Final Fantasy IX: Revised
by fffan231
Summary: New plots. New personalities. New faces. The storyline of FF9 with a few original twists. NOT an FF9 Novelization.
1. This'll Be Easy  Right?

_Hello._

_This story is a revised version of Final Fantasy IX. Before you think 'Oh no! Not _another_ story that just copies from the game!' please give me a chance and continue reading._

_Final Fantasy IX is my favorite FF, and I have played it many times. I thought it would be fun to write the story, but also give it a little more detail, give a little of my originality to the characters, fill in a few gaps that might have been left in the game, and add some new surprises. This will _not_ be an FF9 Novelization. It will appear that way at first, but it's not._

_Just so you know, this story will be mostly written in first person in Zidane's eyes, along with interludes in third person with other characters._

_So, here's the story. Please enjoy. _

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**Chapter 1**

_The small craft creaked against the storm that assaulted its sail. The sea was wild; the driving rain crashed down into the waves that rammed against the boat, rocking the inhabitants violently. _

_Only a woman and a small girl sat in the small craft. It creaked loudly as it was thrown for a short distance, landing back in the water with a splash that couldn't be heard over the heavy rain and crashing thunder, sending flashing lights across the sky. The woman clung tightly to the girl's shivering form in an attempt to shelter her from the tempest. Their hooded cloaks did nothing to protect them from the biting winds or from being soaked through by the rain and the waves of the ocean._

_They were tossed to the side of the boat as another wave crashed into its side. The woman tightened her embrace on the girl, doing anything it took to protect her from the storm. She tried to comfort her crying daughter with soft words, but her words were inaudible against the gale. _

_The girl could feel her mother's body wrack with shivers against her. She had been drenched with the water around them, but she had not even received half the weathering assaults her mother had. She just sat quietly, knowing her mother would take care of her, knowing there was nothing else she could do._

_Suddenly, a great gale buffeted the small boat's sail, and threw it into an oncoming wave. It splashed over both of them, its ice-cold temperature shocking their already chilled bodies. Another, larger wave picked the boat up as if it was nothing, higher and higher, just before propelling it forward. It felt as if it sailed for a moment, just before it came in violent contact with the water below…_

She woke with a start. Her eyes expected to see the water crashing into her, but they instead met her own hands as they lay in her lap, trembling slightly.

With a sigh, of relief or frustration, she wasn't sure, she put her face in her hands, and took a deep breath. No matter how many times this dream came to her, she always woke with her heartbeat accelerating and her mind frightened. She had become accustomed to it, as she had it more often than not. But it scared her every time.

But not because of the things that played out in the dreams…

But because she had no idea what they meant… what they were…

All she knew was that she constantly dreamed of herself as a little girl, being held protectively by a woman in a storm. But she had never experienced that…

With another sigh, this one from saddened frustration, she briefly rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and cast her gaze to the window of her room. The sun was just beginning to set, casting a rustic glow across the sky in the dusk. She lifted herself out of her chair and approached the window, her pallid dress rustling quietly, and opened it a bit further.

Below her window in the room of the castle, lay the town of Alexandria. It stretched farther than she could measure, buildings of every size, and the voices of people that could even be heard from her position filled the streets.

She put her hands on the windowsill, watching the inhabitants of the town bustle about as they finished their daily routines. The wind gently caressed her raven hair, her bangs falling slightly in front of her thoughtful expression. The town was so beautiful… full of people that loved their lives, loved their town, loved each other…

And that's why she was set on doing what she planned. What would help her people. As their Princess, it was her duty to take care of them, lead them, and help when times turned for a direction other than peace.

And she had sensed that peace begin to slip away.

And it had started in her own castle.

All she had done was sit back and watch these things happen, believing that she could do nothing. How could she not believe such a thing, as the problem had started with her mother, the Queen of Alexandria? But that wasn't what she was supposed to do. She was supposed to take action when she knew something wasn't right, something that could affect her people.

No matter what she had to do.

And tonight, she would finally take that step.

- - - - -

_Well, it's dark enough in here,_ I think as I enter the ship's lodging. I squint in the darkness and try to see, as my eyes haven't adjusted yet. There was supposed to be a meeting here, but apparently no one was here yet. _Guess I'm on time for once._

Remembering the candle that rested on a table in the middle of the room, I fumble in my pockets in an attempt to find my matchbox. We all had one with us, considering that we were always entering and leaving rooms on the ship, and it wasn't the brightest idea to leave them lit. Not unless we wanted to burn the ship right out of the sky.

After a bit of fumbling, my fingers wrap around the tiny box. I pull it out and retrieve a match, striking it on the box, bringing the flame dancing to life. A small area around me becomes visible, and the table is seen just in front of me. I return the box to my pocket and approach the table, lighting the candle as I reach it. The fire springs to life on the wick, casting a much larger amount of light to the room than the match did. Only the farthest corners of the ceiling can't be seen.

I wave the match briefly to put out the flame and toss it into a nearby wastebasket. Now I just have to wait until they show up. I fold my arms, wondering if they were late on purpose just to get on my nerves. They always hounded me if I was late. Guess I couldn't blame them, since I tend to be the one who does it the most. But I always seem to find a way to be late whether I mean it or not.

Well at least they weren't hiding in the room before I got there, ready to jump on me and scare me. Last time they did that, I almost wet my pants. They laughed, but they paid for it. I turned on them and kicked their sorry-

I jump like a frightened rabbit and can't stop a scream from escaping my lips (_well… ok, so it was more of a squeal, but it was either that, or wet my pants… so sue me…)_ as I hear a loud banging coming from the door to my right. I stare at it, my heart beating violently against my chest at the sudden scare. What the heck was that!?

"Who's there?!?" A mockingly 'dangerous' voice booms from behind the door. It's followed by a small shuffle, and a quiet chuckle.

My sudden scare disappears and is replaced with complete annoyance. The voice was Blank's, I could tell. I can just picture the looks on his face, full of pure hysterical joy that he managed to scare the crap out of me again. _Big stupid jerk._

I roll my eyes, and say, "It's me you idiot!"

Just then, the door opens and, surprise surprise, here comes Blank, followed by Cinna and Marcus, all with their mouths upturned in complete amusement. They approach me as Blank shuts the door, their muffled chuckles filling the room. Great… the only time that Marcus and Cinna would join in on one of our pranks is when they think they'll find it very amusing.

I see none of the humor they see, and just fold my arms. "Real funny guys," I say with the annoyance plain in my voice.

Blank smiles wider, his eyes peeking at me under the belt on his head. "Oh, sorry Zidane, we didn't know it was you," he says with sarcasm.

"Yeah," Marcus chuckles, trying to hold back the tears building up in the corners of his eyes. "From the sound we heard, we thought we accidentally scared a _girl_…"

I roll my eyes again, my tail flicking behind me in irritation. "A girl huh?" I start. I display my own sly smile and say, "Well, if any of us is a girl, it's _you,_ Blank."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" he asks, dumbfounded. Cinna and Marcus know what I'm talking about, and now start eyeing him, their muffled laughter now focused on him.

I smile again, glad to get my revenge on him (_because I KNOW that trying to scare my tail off was HIS idea_…) and say, "Don't you remember that time one of the Oglops got loose and jumped into your bed? You were screaming like a banshee and trying to climb up the wall to get away from it!"

This, of course, sets Marcus and Cinna into fits of laughter. They hold their stomachs as the memory comes back (_not that it's that hard. It just happened last week…_) and Blank turns an angry (_or embarrassed…?)_ shade of red.

I stare at him as his jaw moves up and down in an attempt to counter me, but nothing comes out of the gaping hole in his head. I chuckle, knowing that he's mad at me for bringing it up because I said that I'd try not to. Well, I did _try_, didn't I?

"Yeah," he finally says, his eyes on me and ignoring Marcus and Cinna who continue to snicker. He points an accusing finger at me. "But it didn't _get out… you let is loose on purpose!"_

I shrug as if it's a detail not worth remembering. "Yeah… but I only did it because you slammed my tail in a door that day."

"Yeah," he says, "But _that_ was an accident!"

"Oh, sure it was," I say with another roll of my eyes. I gesture with my hands as if I'm holding open a door and showing someone through it. "Here, Zidane," I say, using the most insulting version of Blank's voice I can, "You go first." I pretend to watch someone walk through it before slamming it. I look at Blank with my eyebrows upturned in a 'duh' kind of way. He folds his arms.

"Well, first of all," he says, using a somewhat sarcastic tone, although there is another tone hidden behind it. "I didn't slam it _that_ hard…" He paused, and I just watch him, both of us having a small glaring contest. "_Second…_" he starts, "It's not _my_ fault that tail jokes are the easiest and funniest ones to pull."

I deepen my glare, and say, "Yeah, but it _is_ your fault that you choose to pull them at all."

We continue to stare at each other, the room now quiet since the other two had stopped laughing a little bit ago, and are watching both of us, waiting to see what we're going to do.

We were only glaring for like, five seconds after I finished my words, and already our mouths start to upturn into smiles. As we see the other's smile widen, our own just widens more. Before we know it, we're bending over in laughter like Cinna and Marcus had just been a little while ago.

Ok, I know what you're thinking… _'These guys are nuts! What the heck just happened!?'_ Well, that's the funny thing… we have a very odd sense of humor. But only with each other. Me and Blank play pranks on each other to provoke the other in getting revenge, then pretend to be mad and end up in fits of laughter. And Marcus and Cinna only join in when they think it will have immensely funny results. They mostly think our behavior is immature. Yeah, it is a pretty strange, stupid way to have fun, but hey… if _you_ were raised by the man _we_ were raised by, you'd find humor in weird places, too.

Just then, our laughter stops as we hear the door on the left open. We all straighten up and look over, already knowing who it is. The only one who's not here yet is the Boss, so it's definitely-

"RRRRRRAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!!!"

We all jump back as a figure jumps from the doorway and lands heavily on the floor, rattling the walls. Our first thought is that it's a monster, what with its big, blue, dragon-looking head. We all instinctively snatch our weapons from their respective sheaths, and face it, all our minds shifted into battle mode.

As the dragon monster lifts its head, it reveals its body. Very large and round… white shirt… big sword in its…

We all groan in unison. _Not AGAIN…_

"Oh, come on, Boss!" Cinna whines. "Do we _have_ to do this _now_!?"

The Boss (_which we have to call him, but his name is Baku_) lifts his sword and points it at us. "You bet your sorry behinds we have to do it now!" He slices the blade through the air, and crows, "Let's go!"

With another roar (_or, whatever you want to call that stupid noise he made…_) he leaps forward, slashing his blade at Blank, who blocks the blow with his own sword.

"Come on!" he bellows, using the sword and his free hand to push Blank away. "Show me what you got!"

_This really sucks_, I think as the battle continues. We all hated it when he would just jump on us anytime he wanted and make us fight. He always caught us off guard, and we hated it. We asked him why he couldn't just warn us, or schedule it. But he just laughed, saying '_Monsters aren't gonna warn you before they attack, and neither am I_!' And man, did he ever keep _that _promise.

Just then, Marcus runs forward and feints to the left as Baku swings his sword in an attempt to slice his arm. Marcus thrust his blade upwards, and it's blocked easily by the much larger man, who shoves him back so hard he falls to the floor. Cinna jumps forward and swings his hammer (the blunt side, not the end with the pretty little slicing tool) aiming at the makeshift dragonhead. But the Boss easily throws his sword arm into his stomach, sending him flying to the side and onto the floor.

Well, it's my turn, but luckily Blank already recovered from his blow, and we both charge together. I act as the distraction, ducking at the sword that swings over my head, and attempt to slash his side with one of my daggers. But he manages to move that sword fast enough to block me.

But it helped, as it gave Blank a chance to leap forward and tackle Baku, wrestling with his sword arm. He doesn't knock him over (_how can you knock down a guy _that _big_?) But he manages to get a good grip on his wrist, temporarily paralyzing him.

I take the free moment to rush to his front and see if I can put my dagger to his throat, signifying our win and an end to this battle. But, unfortunately, it doesn't work out quite that way.

Being a much bigger man, the Boss easily removes Blank's grip from his arm, and slams him onto the floor with a loud thud. That gives him enough time to be ready for me, and he swings his sword down. I immediately roll to the side, righting myself when I'm out of range. _Why the heck does he still think I can use these pitiful daggers to block a sword that's bigger than me!?!_ I think with annoyance.

But, I don't get to think into it that much, as his free fist (which is as big as my head) comes into contact with my stomach, knocking the wind completely out of me. I drop to the floor with a gasp, landing on my side and dropping both of my daggers in the process. _That HURT…_

As my hands automatically clutch my bruised stomach and I try to get air back in my lungs, the Boss leers down at me, seeming to know that he won. Now, he's lifting his sword, trying to 'show us what it's like when you lose a battle…' Yeah, yeah, yeah… we get it…

But, he never slices downward, because Marcus attacks him from behind. He jumps onto the Boss's neck and wraps his arms around his throat, no weapon in hand, and squeezes tightly. Baku struggles to make him let go, making demands through his crushing windpipe, and making futile attempts to swat Cinna away, who is smacking his stomach repeatedly with the blunt end of his hammer.

_Well, looks like we might win this round_, I think as I steadily start to breath again. But they do seem to be losing, no matter their advantage. I mean, this guys is huge… And I _REALLY _don't want to hear another 'this is why you lost' speech…

So, although my stomach is still aching, I scoot my legs forward, and put one of my feet behind Baku. Using as much strength as I can, I catch the back of his ankle with my foot, tripping him and sending him toppling to his back. _(luckily, Marcus was able to let go in time and not get squashed under the man's immense weight…_)

"Why you little-" Baku starts, making an attempt to get back up. But he's sent back to the floor as Blank stands over him, the tip of his sword pointed directly at the man's throat.

Panting slightly, he says, "You lose."

We all let a great sigh of relief (mine somewhat pitiful because of my lack of breathing at the moment), and Baku remains still, giving us one of those smiles (_sure, we can't see it under the mask, but we know its there._)

"Yeah, Yeah," he says, pushing the swords point away from his throat. Blank backs away and Baku picks himself up. He removes the dragonhead from his face and throws it to the other side of the room.

"Nice job, girls," he says, flashing the smile we could now see underneath his bushy mustache. "Lookin' much better." Without another word, he walks past us and opens the door that Blank and the others had entered earlier. "Time for the meeting."

He disappears through the doorway, and Marcus and Cinna follow him. I pull myself onto my hands and knees, wondering how big the bruise is gonna be on my stomach as it makes a pang of protest to the fact that I'm moving.

"Hey, come on," I hear Blank say at the same time his hands wrap around one of my arms and carefully help me up. I refuse to wince, no matter how my stomach feels. It'll go away soon, and I had felt worse… a LOT worse…

"Thanks," I say, giving him an 'I'm fine' look as he eyes me. He shrugs and bends down to pick up my daggers. I sheath them after he hands them to me. I don't thank him this time, but he knows I appreciate it.

Cause we're best friends.

Yeah, a weird pair of friends, pulling tricks on each other to purposely tick each other off. But hey, that was our kind of humor, and that's why we got along so well. We could do it, and get 'revenge' but it wasn't really for the revenge. It was just to keep the humor going, and have something to laugh about. Yeah… I always thought it was pretty cool.

Without another word, we follow the others into the meeting room.

As I shut the door behind me, Blank takes his place leaning on a wall, while Baku stands at the head of the round table in the middle of the room. Cinna and Marcus are already seated and waiting. I walk over to the table, but I stay standing with the arms folded.

As Baku sees that we're all ready, he starts briefing the mission. This has to be the millionth time we've done it this week.

"Alright, listen up!" he says, his voice loud although we're in a pretty small room. "Within the hour, we'll be docked at Alexandria. After the preparations, the kingdom will see the play, courtesy of the 'acting' group, Tantalus." He looks over to Cinna, who gets out of his seat, with a bit of a drawn, 'this is such a waste of time' look on his face. But he dared not complain. If the Boss said we had to analyze this thing to death, then we had to.

"The play will distract the Queen, and after the sparring scene, Blank and Zidane will sneak into the castle and kidnap Princess Garnet." He sits down, knowing that his part is finally over. He hides his face from Baku, and mutters something that looks oddly like 'Paranoid, detail analyzing dimwit.'

Baku then turns to Marcus. He gets up and says, "Because I'm playing the lead, I have to make sure the play is a hit, keeping the Queen and the audience's attention." He sits back down.

Blank knows he's next, so he starts talking before Baku even looks at him. "I have to distract the guards in front of the main hall that connects the castle and the Prima Vista so me and Zidane can get in and take their armor for disguise." He pauses, eyeing small bag next to him, which twitches every now and then. "And I'll use the Oglops for it." He tears his eyes away from the bag and says, "Then I position myself amongst the Pluto Knights so I can keep an eye on them and keep them from ruining the plan."

I hold back a chuckle that wants to escape my mouth at the fact that Blank will have to willingly touch those things, but I hold it back because it's my turn. When the Boss looks at me, I say, "And I'll sneak my way up to the Royal Balcony where the Queen and Princess Garnet watch the play, intercept the chef that brings them their tea, and put the sleeping weed in the Princess's cup."

Baku lifts his eyebrows. "And then?"

"And then," I continue," When she starts to fall asleep and the others notice, I offer to help her to her room, and bring her to the ship. They'll let me do it because they'll think I'm a Pluto Knight."

Baku nods his head in confirmation. "Good," he says, looking around at us all. "I think we finally got it." We all have something to say about that, but keep our mouths shut.

After that, he heads for the door, and says, "Be ready before we arrive!" then leaves the room.

- - - - -

**Interlude**

The little boy walks through the busy street, not used to the immense amount of people. They were all over, bustling about with loud conversation. He wasn't used to so much noise, but it was ok. He was glad to be around anyone, and not have to be alone.

_He had been alone since his grandfather died a week ago. He stayed in their home for a while, but he knew he couldn't stay there forever. He couldn't stay by himself, and he had no reason to be there. Not anymore, at least._

_So, he decided to visit the town that he and his Grandfather had gone to on occasion, mostly when they needed supplies or they just needed to have a little fun. But he didn't find much in the dark city. Mostly rich people who looked at others as if they weren't fit to be in their presence. And it was always dark… He didn't like it._

_But, he did manage to meet a nice man who ran a small shop on a friendlier part of the town. He introduced himself as Marco, and the boy said his name was Vivi. And Marco was very nice to Vivi. He sympathized the loss of his Grandfather, and offered to let him stay with him for a while. So Vivi stayed with him for the night, considering that he was tired from the long trip, and didn't have anywhere to go. They talked a little during his stay, and he learned a bit about Marco's job. Vivi didn't say much about his own life, just what he did after his Grandfather died, and how he had decided to come to the city. _

_The next day, Marco told him that there was a big play soon in Alexandria. He told him a bit about the city, and Vivi was interested. It sounded like a nicer place than Treno. The only nice person he had met here was Marco. And he wanted to try and find a place where he could be happy again and, although Marco was nice, he had a good feeling about Alexandria. When Vivi said that he was interested in going, Marco said that there was a group of nobles preparing to go there for the play, and his boss owned the ship that they were going to ride on. Marco said that he knew his boss would have no problem letting him go. He would have to try and get his own ticket when he got there, but the ship ride would be free. Vivi thanked him, really appreciating all the kindness this man had showed him in the short day they knew each other. So, by nightfall they had said their goodbyes, and Vivi was on a ship, on his way to Alexandria._

Upon arriving in Alexandria this morning, he found that the play's tickets were sold out. He became disappointed, but tried to decide it didn't matter. The play wasn't the only reason he was here. But, in the afternoon, he met a man on the street who said he had tickets for the play, and he would sell him one. And of course, Vivi did.

Now, as the sun began to set, he knew that it would be time for the play soon, so he was on his way to give his ticket to the man in town square (which he found out from the man who sold him the ticket).

As he walked down the noisy street, he stopped for a moment to adjust his hat. He did that a lot, sometimes because it was slipping, and sometimes it was just a nervous habit. This time, it was because it was slipping.

As felt satisfied that the hat would stay on his head, Vivi's eyes started to become unaccustomed as the light suddenly changed. Everything was getting darker, _really_ fast.

_Can the sun set that fast?_ He thought, looking up in the sky to check. But instead of a setting sun, his eyes caught sight of a large airship, flying above the streets, just above the tops of the buildings.

Now realizing that the change in the lighting was the ship's shadow, he watched it fly past, heading in the direction of the castle. As it passed over him, the shadow left, and the dusk's light returned. Within about a minute, the ship had reached the castle.

He wasn't sure what the ship was for, but he looked away from it, and back onto the street ahead of him. He had to get his ticket to the man so he could see the play.

He started walking again, but didn't get very far.

Suddenly, something rammed into his back, knocking him forward and onto his stomach. He didn't know if it was an accident, or maybe there was some kind of monster getting ready to attack.

His wonderings were answered as he heard a small, but defiant voice say, "Hey, watch where you're going!"

Vivi lifted his head to see who was talking, but whoever it was was already running off down the street. He looked to be about his height, and wore an orange outfit.

Vivi watched him go, then got back onto his own feet, brushing dirt off his pants. _But you ran into me…_ he thought with confusion. Oh well… it wasn't a big deal. He was clumsy and tended to fall down anyway. Didn't really make much of a difference if someone _knocked_ him down.

Instead, he let it go, and walked down the street.

When he entered the village square, he saw a booth sitting right in the middle, surrounded by a round sidewalk and various buildings on either side. The way to the castle was a ways behind the booth.

Approaching the booth, Vivi saw the man standing there, watching him approach. When he stopped in front of it, he looked up at him as the man said, "Can I help you?"

"U-um…" Vivi said. He wasn't sure why he was nervous. Guess he just wasn't very used to talking to strangers… and not used to being in a strange town and having to talk to so many. The man waited patiently for the black mage's answer.

Vivi reached into his pocket and pulled out his ticket. He handed it up to the man and said, "I… I have a ticket for the play."

"Alright," the man said warmly, retrieving the ticket. He looked at it before he decided to stamp it, but his face turned to a small frown.

Vivi hesitated. "… What is it?" he asked.

The man's small frown stayed, but his voice wasn't angry. It sounded more disappointed. "This ticket is fake…" he said. He lightly shook his head. "I've seen so many today."

_Fake…?_ Vivi thought. How could it be fake?

The man let a small sigh, and handed it back to Vivi. "If you want to see the play, you have to buy a ticket," he says. "You can't make fake ones. It's illegal."

"But I didn't make it," Vivi said, feeling small and frustrated that he had been tricked into buying something fake and was now taking the blame for it. "I bought it."

The man looked suspicious, but asked, "From who?"

"A man on a street," Vivi said, thinking back on it. "The tickets were sold out, and he said he had some."

He looked back up at the man in time to see a look of understanding on his face s he nodded. "I see…" He looked directly at Vivi, using a friendly tone. "Don't you know you're not supposed to buy tickets from people on the street? You can only get them from the ticket sellers in the town square."

Vivi looked down, feeling sheepish at the thought. "No… I didn't know. I'm sorry."

The man looked surprised at Vivi's reaction. "What do you have to be sorry about? If anybody should be sorry, it's the scalper." Vivi looked back up at him as the man asked, "Where was this guy?"

"Um…" Vivi said, turning around. He considered it for a moment, then turned back to the man and said, "He was down that way a few streets. I bought it from him a few hours ago."

The man looked in the direction Vivi had mentioned, and frowned. "Hmmm… well, he'll be long gone then." He looked back down at Vivi and said, "But hey, we'll probably end up with guards looking for him after the play. I've seen too many fake tickets today to skip reporting it."

"Oh," Vivi said. That made him feel a bit better. "Ok."

The man nodded. He looked apologetic, and said, "Sorry about the ticket sonny. Guess you'll have to wait till the next play."

"Oh, that's ok," Vivi said, still feeling a bit disappointed. He'd just have to find something else to do.

"Hey," the man said just before Vivi started to walk away. He waited as the man reached into his pocket and handed something down to him. "Here you go."

Vivi accepted whatever it was, and looked at it. There were five cards, each one with a different monster picture on it, and letters and numbers on each side.

Vivi smiled at the cards. He looked up at the man, and said, "Thank you."

He smiled back. "No problem. Take care of yourself, now."

Vivi nodded and turned around, walking away from the ticket booth.

He fanned the cards in his hands, reading the letters and numbers and the monster's names. They looked really cool, although he didn't know how to play any card games that involved cards like this. He had never seen any like them before. He was surprised that the man had been so nice to him, although he barely knew him. Just like Marco. He guessed that he would always be able to find a friend, no matter where he was. It made him feel better.

The only problem now was that he didn't have a ticket for the play, and he had nowhere to go.

Finally looking up from the cards, Vivi saw that he had wandered into an alleyway during his thoughts. It looked a little darker here, and there were no people around. He didn't really like the look of it.

But just then, he saw someone coming toward him up ahead. He put the cards in his pocket, and prepared to turn and run. Sure, he had just decided that he would be able to find friends no matter where he was, but he doubted he could find a friend in an alleyway.

But just before he turned, he stopped as he thought he recognized the person running toward him. The kid looked over his shoulder, the continued to run toward him.

Then, he recognized him. It was the little kid that ran into him earlier. Now that he was able to get a better look, he saw that his body was covered in fine, tan fur, and his face was similar to a rodent's. He decided not to run, wondering if the boy was coming to him for a reason.

When he did reach him, he stopped in front of the black mage and said, "Hey you! You're the one with the phony ticket, right?"

_Huh? Why would he care about that?_

"I saw him tell you it was fake!" The boy said as Vivi didn't answer.

"Um…" he started. "Yeah."

"I knew it," he said, a certain smugness in his tone. He wasted no time in asking his next question, seeming to be in a hurry. "If you want to see the play, I'll let ya. But you have to be my slave." Apparently, he didn't mince words either.

"Uh…" Slave? Well, he doubted that he meant a real slave… not permanently. I mean, this kid looked like he was the same age as Vivi.

Well, he didn't have anything to do… and he really did want to see the play.

"…Sure."

The kid flashes a triumphant grin and says, "Great!" He wasted no time in asserting his new authority, points behind Vivi, saying, "Go make sure no one's coming."

Vivi scratched his head, but did as the kid said. He really hoped this was a good idea…

After retrieving a ladder, the two kids carried it up another ladder inside a steeple not far from the alleyway. On their way, the boy had introduced himself as Puck, and Vivi offered his name. The were now walking on the roofs above the streets, much to Vivi's dismay, thanks to his fear of heights. By the time they cross the last makeshift bridge, night arrives. As they stood on the last roof that sat right next to the castle's wall, Puck tossed the ladder between the roof and a crevice in the wall, and they crossed over it.

- - - - -

"You guys ready?" Blank asks as we listen to Baku start the play on the other side of the curtain on the Prima Vista's deck.

"Yep," we all reply. I swing my sword experimentally, taking a deep breath as I think about the mission ahead. The acting, I have no problem with. But, although Baku made us analyze it enough times to make you want to strangle him, I was still nervous. Sure, we had pulled off plenty of complicated jobs before, but we never kidnapped a member of the royal family. Heck, we never kidnapped anyone.

But, I decided to just focus on the play, and worry about the rest later. And hope we didn't get caught… _THAT_ would be a pretty little thought, wondering what our sentence would be for kidnapping a Princess…

We hear Baku announce the play, the crowd cheer, and we prepare to get the show on the road.

- - - - -

**Interlude**

She barely notices the play before her, her mind focused on what she was going to do. She had been quiet the whole time, but her mother didn't seem to notice. She just sat next to her, fully absorbed in the play.

But it was ok. That's why she was leaving. Something had changed her mother. She was no longer the caring person she once had been. She barely noticed Garnet anymore, let alone some of the needs of the town. She hadn't fully neglected them, but she began to act as if some other things she had been up to were more important. She was hiding something… and whatever it is wasn't good, Garnet could tell…

Especially when that man showed up… Actually, that was when things began to change; that was when her mother began to change. All because of this man. True that things were different after her father, the king, died, but that was something she knew they could recover from. But the man showed up around that time, and started talking to the Queen.

But Garnet didn't know who he was and what he was telling her mother. She never met him, and he and the Queen always met in secret. And no one in the castle seemed to notice the Queen's strange behavior… and no one took Garnet seriously when she talked to them about it. They all thought that she was still upset about the king, and it was just her way of grieving.

They didn't know the half of it.

So, she knew she had only one option. If no one here would help her and no one would notice the Queen's odd behavior, then she would have to go to someone who would.

Her uncle Cid, the Regent of Lindblum.

She knew that the play and the actors were being provided by the city of Lindblum, and once it was over, they would return. So, she was going to sneak away when the time was right, disguise herself, sneak onboard the ship, and ask the crew to kidnap her. It was a stretch, considering that the crew would probably find it strange, especially if they found out she was a Princess.

But she could see no other option.

She had to do it.

As she sat there, she tried to decide when the best time to leave her seat would be. Maybe if she waited for the play to go on a bit longer, her mother and the guards would be too engrossed in it to realize how long she was gone. They wouldn't think much of her leaving her seat, but they would notice if she was gone too long.

As she waited, she glanced at the play occasionally, getting peaks of the story. Not that it mattered. 'I Want To Be Your Canary' was her favorite play, so naturally she knew it by heart. Right now, it was the scene where the characters stand up against the King, and she knew that a battle scene would soon take place.

A battle scene…

Everyone would be absorbed in that.

She sat in her chair, watching the play now, but not really paying attention to the story. She just waited for the scene to come so she could take her leave.

And after a few more minutes, two of the actors leaped into the passway between the ship and the audience, and started a very convincing duel with swords. The crowd began to cheer and shout, and her mother became fascinated with the fight.

Quickly, but quietly, Garnet stood up and slipped into the castle, unnoticed by the guards who keep their attention on the play.

- - - - -

_Well this sucks…_ I think to myself as I pull on the armored glove.

Blank and I finished the dueling scene and ran into the entrance to the castle. The two guards inside wouldn't let us in because we were supposed to go backstage on the ship. So, Blank quietly reached for the bag that was slung on his belt, and shook it so that two Oglops fell onto the floor. The guards started screaming like banshees (which reminds me of Blank, and I can't help but snicker), and that's all the distraction we need to punch them both out. We dragged them into the knight's room just down the hall, and took their armor.

And the things that sucks is beating up guards that have armor that doesn't fit you at all…

And it smells…

Don't they _ever_ wash this stuff…?

"Finished changing?" Blank asks me. He's already got all of his armor on, and it appears to fit him pretty well. The guy he knocked out was a little smaller than the one I picked.

And the size doesn't matter on this one, but I have to keep my tail wrapped around my leg just so I can wear the armor. Doesn't feel right, not having it behind me.

"Yeah," I say as I flex my hand in the glove. It feels like it might slip off, but hey, I can't complain… Well, I can, but I'm not going to.

"Ok," he says, turning toward the door. "Let's get this show on the road." As he opens the door, I pick up the helmet that lays on the table next to us, and follow him out of the room.

After entering the hall again, we look around. We can still faintly hear the crowd's cheers as the play continues, and we try to focus on our jobs while we still have time.

"Ok," Blank says, looking up. I follow his gaze as he says, "The Royal Chamber is up those stairs. Go up there and get the Princess. I'll wait until you get her, just in case you need help, then I'll go hang out in the Pluto Knights' ranks."

"Ok," I say as we both turn our attention back to each other.

"Good luck," he says.

I smile and run for the stairs. _I have a feeling I'm gonna need it…_

- - - - -

**Interlude**

She pushes her bedroom door open slightly and peeks out in the hall. There's no one in sight, so she emerges from her room, shutting the door quietly.

She makes her descent down the short flight of stairs, just able to see past the hood that casts a shadow on her face. Her stomach feels nauseous and her heart beats oddly as she heads for the door that lead out of the hall. She had made this plan, but she still didn't know if it was going to work.

After all, she was going to try to make the workers on the ship kidnap her. She didn't know how well that would go.

Just hoping for the best and hoping that she wouldn't get caught, she pushes open the door and walks out into the hall.

- - - - -

As I make it to the top of the stair, the door on my left opens. My first thought is to reach for my daggers, thinking that I've been caught. But I stay my hand as I remind myself that I'm dressed like a Pluto Knight, so no one will know.

Then again, maybe I should be wearing my helmet.

But I don't even make a move to put it on as I realize who came out the doors. It wasn't a knight, or one of the castle staff.

Actually, I didn't know who it was.

Well, it was a girl; _that_ much I could tell. She was wearing a white and red cloak with the hood covering most of her face. Whatever she was wearing underneath it was orange, as I could see the material covering her legs.

But who was she?

Well, if she doesn't get in the way, I guess it doesn't matter. I'm supposed to be going in the opposite direction.

But something tells me to stay…

"Um…" she says quietly, seeming to shift nervously as I just stand there. "Would you let me pass?" Her voice is beautiful, like a song, although there's an anxious tone in it.

"Uh…" I start. Maybe I should just let her go. But I have a feeling I shouldn't.

Instead, I ask casually, "Who are you?"

She seems to freeze at the question. She remains still, her covered face turning away from me.

Well, I gotta find out who she is, so I start walking over to her. She hears my footsteps and turns her head to look. I see her jump slightly, startled at my actions. I stop a few feet away so she won't feel uncomfortable, and I say, "What are you doing here?" She remains quiet, looking like a cornered rabbit.

Although she doesn't say anything, I realize that now that I'm closer I can see her face better. But it's still covered by the shadow of the hood, and she's looking away from me.

I take a step to the right, trying to peak at her face. Somehow, my action causes her to look me full in the face.

Even under the hood, I can see that she's beautiful…

Wait a minute…

I've never seen the Princess before but… she's-

"Hey, Zidane? What are you doing?"

I jump as I'm startled out of my thoughts, and I turn my head to follow the voice. Blank is about halfway up the stairs, looking at me and the girl quizzically.

Before I can say anything, the girl seems to realize that it's her chance to escape, and she runs right past me, ramming into my shoulder in the process. As she runs down the steps, she practically pushes Blank out of the way as if she's being chased by something, and his back comes in contact with the wall, sending him to the floor.

I finally realize what I was thinking, and I start running down the stairs, stopping in front of a baffled Blank. He looks up at me and opens his mouth to say something, but I don't give him the chance.

"Get up! That was Princess Garnet!" I say, running past him.

"What!?" he calls after me as he gets to his feet.

When I make it to the bottom of the stairs, I look in both directions frantically. When I look to my left, I catch sight of the white cloak disappearing around the corner.

Just then Blank catches up to me and says, "You have to go get her!"

"I know!" I say, running after her. I turn the corner as I hear Blank call, "I'll go make sure the guards don't find out!"

_I certainly hope so,_ I think as I catch sight of her rounding another corner.

This is gonna be more complicated than we thought…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Well, thank you for reading. Please review and let me know what you think. If I get enough people saying that they want me to continue this, then I will. But if no one is interested, I will discontinue and remove it from the site. Thanks for reading, and please leave a review._


	2. Who's Chasing Who?

_Hello._

_This chapter is a lot longer than the first, and I hope that's not a problem. I didn't want to end it any sooner than I did, and there were a lot of things to cover in between. _

_For anyone who's been reading this, I really appreciate it. I know right now there might not seem to be much difference in the plot (other than the thoughts of the characters, and a lot of altered lines), but there will be changes later to start showing the originality. I can't exactly say when those things will be obvious, but I hope you read it to find out._

_Thanks a lot for taking the time to read this author's note, and enjoy this chapter._

- - - - -

**Interlude **

He shifted nervously in his position next to the entrance to the queen's Royal Chamber. The Princess left her seat, and had yet to return.

Somehow, he felt that something was wrong. The Princess had been acting a bit strange lately, as had Queen Brahne. But he knew the Princess's strange behavior was because of the Queen's. He knew that it bothered her.

Steiner had noticed the change in the Queen, but he ignored it. It was not his place to question the Queen. He was but a lowly knight. He didn't understand everything the Queen did. How could he?

But it still troubled him. If the change in the Queen was affecting the Princess, then there had to be something amiss. Then again, he had noticed the change after a strange man began visiting the castle. That was when the Queen's behavior started to change, and when she began to get secretive. The Princess was worried about it, and he knew it. She had consulted some of the castle staff, including himself, about it. But he didn't know what to say to her. He had no right to tell her anything about the Queen when he didn't know what was going on. But she had approached him as a friend, not as a knight. He would feel shame in admitting such a thing, but his relationship with the Princess was a bit different than just Royalty and a knight. He had protected her ever since she was young, and they had built a small friendship. Nothing big; she would consult her mother and father on most things. But there were small things that she would only tell him when he was on watch among the Royal Family. When she was young, she would tell him how she didn't always like having to do as she was told all the time. How she never got to have any freedom. He would just listen, feeling like she shouldn't be allowed to know her on such a level. But she trusted him, and she grew with that trust. They had never gotten immensely close, but they had an occasional conversation, and she knew him better than any of the Pluto Knights.

But when she had told him her suspicions about the Queen, he didn't know what to say. He believed that he had no right to say what he thought the Queen might be doing. It would be disrespectful. Instead, he just told her not to worry, as the Queen knew what she was doing, and that she needed to trust her. The Princess didn't look very happy with the answer, but she left it at that.

But he couldn't stop thinking about it since.

The Princess finally stopped telling anyone about her thoughts, and became quieter over the months. She always seemed to be deep in thought, and she didn't want to talk to many people.

But he could do nothing but protect her. Their business was not his.

But right now, he was worried that she had left her seat, and no one seemed to notice her long absence. Considering her change in mood recently, he felt that something might be wrong.

Just then, he heard two voices from the hall on his left. He recognized them immediately, and groaned silently. Did they _have_ to be here now?

"Your majesty!" one of the voices calls.

"See the Queen, we must!" the other says urgently. And sure enough, here come the two clowns that the Queen calls her personal magicians… Zorn and Thorn.

Well, Steiner had his orders, and they were not to let the Queen be disturbed until the play was over. And he already didn't like these two, so he had no problem in telling them to leave.

Stepping in their path, Steiner looks down as the two stop and look up at him, frowning dangerously. They dislike him just as much as he dislikes them.

Putting a firm authority in his voice, he says, "The Queen is busy. Come back later."

Before they can protest, another voice is heard from the right. "Is it an emergency?"

Now, Steiner's anger starts to show. _Not her_, he thinks. He turns to face her, moving out of the clowns path. And there's Beatrix, the Queen's general, and head of the Alexandrian troops.

He glares silently as Zorn and Thorn rush over to her. One of them says, "An emergency, it is!"

"A veritable emergency of terrible urgency!" the other says. Steiner watches with annoyance. Mostly because he knows that Beatrix will comply to make herself look better than him…

_And_ because those clowns' high-pitched voices get on his nerves.

_Curse her_, Steiner thinks, silently wagging a fist in her direction. She doesn't see, as she's listening to the clowns' explanation of what has happened. _She's always trying to prove herself superior over me._

He's sees Beatrix nod, and say, "Very well. I'll see what I can do." Unfortunately, he doesn't know what Zorn and Thorn said, as he was too angry at them all. She walks over to the Queen's seat, and starts saying something to her. Brahne doesn't look very happy, and he knows it's because she specifically said no interruptions. But Beatrix says something else, then her mood changes. He immediately comes to attention when he hears her call, "Captain Steiner!"

He immediately runs over, stopping next to her seat and saluting, waiting for her instruction. As she gives the orders, she directs them at both him and Beatrix. "Go find Garnet!"

"Yes, my Queen!" Steiner says, immediately complying by turning and heading to the hall that leads back into the castle. As he goes, he wonders why they can't find the Princess…

And because of her strange behavior recently, it worries him…

- - - - -

_How the heck can a Princess run so fast!?_ I think as I continue my fast pursuit after Princess Garnet.

We'd already run down multiple hallways, and it's starting to get tiring. I'm not wearing the knight's armor anymore, because she seems too fast to catch even without it. It took it off as I ran, throwing the pieces on the floor and not caring who found them.

But even with the extra weight gone, she seems to be running faster than me. And that's saying something. For as long as I could remember, none of the guys in Tantalus could ever beat me in a race.

But _man_, _she_ was giving me a run for my money.

She turned down a large corridor, and headed for a tall flight of stairs. I chase after her, finally starting to lose my breath. But I can't give up. The Boss'll let me have it if I fail this.

She's already out of sight by the time I reach the stairs. I take them two at a time in an attempt to catch up, and find an open door at the top. I push it open and run out.

Now, I come to a sudden halt as I realize that I'm outside on a tower. The Prima Vista and the play can be seen from here, but they're a ways ahead.

I look around for the Princess, and I'm just in time to see her disappear behind the center block of the turret. I run the short distance over, stopping in my tracks as I see where she is.

She's standing on the edge of the tower with her hands behind her back. She just stands there, staring at me.

I don't have any idea what she's doing. She must be nuts to stand up there, what with the drop being a pretty little three hundred feet before hitting the brick ground below.

But I'm here to kidnap her, so I take a step forward.

But just as I do, she falls backwards, falling completely off the tower. My stomach jumps, and I rush over, putting my hands on the ledge. Why the heck did she do that!?

But, I'm relieved to see that she hadn't been on some suicide mission. She was holding onto a rope, decorated with little flags. Obviously, the decorations put up for the play.

Well, it's not like I have a choice in my next move. She's nuts…

Looking to the side, I see another rope, and grab it. With a quick glance downward, and silently hoping it will work, I leap off the tower, holding tightly to the rope.

- - - - -

**Interlude**

Steiner pants as he reaches the top of the stair that led to one of the lookout towers. He leaned over and put his hands on his thighs, taking deep breaths to try and regulate his breathing.

_I don't believe this,_ he thinks, anger joining the fatigue in his mind. He had left to find the Princess immediately after the Queen ordered it, and wasn't happy with what happened after that.

When the Pluto Knights assembled, there were only two, both stripped of their armor. His first reaction was to explode at them, asking why in Gaia they didn't have they're armor, and where the other knights were. But they just hid their faces from him, obviously not wanting to tell him. He just yelled at them, telling them that they were being incompetent, worthless grubs, and they better get their armor and find the Princess. And after that, he looked everywhere for the knights. Half of them weren't even in their assigned posts. He had to yell at most of them for being out of line, and tell them that the Princess was missing. By the time he found them all, he went on his own search, checking every bit of the castle.

And now, the towers were the only places he hadn't checked. He didn't know why she would be here, but she was nowhere else.

Finally, he righted himself and took one more breath, telling himself that he couldn't rest until she was found. He opened the door to the tower, and ran out.

As the night air greeted him, he ran a lap around the turret, but found nothing. He cast his gaze to the towers on the right, then the left.

Nothing.

_Where is she…!?_ Steiner thought, starting to feel anxious worry grip him. She wasn't anywhere he had looked, and he would have received word by now if someone else found her (at least, he assumed so, no matter how hopeless his knights were). He heaved a great sigh of frustration. Why had she left in the first place? What was going on?

Just then, he heard a door slam open to the left. He turned his head to see what it was, and his eyes widened.

Although her attire was completely different, including a hooded cloak…

He could see Princess Garnet on the Tower next to his.

Finally! Now, all he had to do was head back inside and go up the stairs to that tower.

But before he could, he saw another figure emerge from the still open door. He didn't look familiar to Steiner, and he started to become suspicious. How did an outsider gain entrance into the castle? And why was he chasing the Princess!?

But his attention reverted to the Princess as he saw movement from her position. She had climbed into the ledge, and stood there with her back facing the dead air behind her. What was she doing!?

As the mysterious person approached her, Steiner's heart skipped a beat as he saw the Princess fall off the Tower. His first reaction was to leap forward, as if to catch her. But he was nowhere near her, and ended up crashing into the side of the tower, watching helplessly as the Princess fell to her…

Wait… she stopped falling…?

She's swinging… on a rope.

Relief washed over Steiner as he realized this. He still had to figure out how he was going to get to her, but at least she was safe.

A movement on the tower she had just left caught his eye. The young man who had followed her grabbed a rope and leapt off the tower, in pursuit of her. Steiner is horrified and angry as he sees this. _Some commoner is trying to get the Princess!_

With no other thought in his mind, he grabs a nearby rope and wraps it around the waist of his armor, tying it a quick, but tight knot. Oaths of punishment for the commoner ran through his mind as he steps onto the ledge. He can see both the Princess and the young man swinging toward the ship where the play is being held. He leapt off the tower head first, thinking only of helping her.

- - - - -

_My stomach isn't agreeing with this ride, _I think as I swing towards the Prima Vista, not far behind Princess Garnet. I don't think heights have ever been that big of a deal to me, but jumping off of a tall tower on a whim wasn't something that I would have done on my own.

Well, I probably would have if Blank dared me too. I would have to.

Problem is, he never did, so I've never done it.

My rope turns slightly, causing my body to be facing the ship now instead of the tower. I don't like how quickly the ship is coming toward me. I feel like I'm gonna crash right into it.

Just ahead of me, Garnet reaches the ship, just above one of the canopies. She lets go of her rope as she reaches it, and she lands on it, cushioning her fall. Seconds after I reach it, I let go, landing on my back a few feet away from her.

I carefully turn over, seeing her pulling herself onto her feet. I try to follow suit, not wanting her to get away. Problem is, this thing isn't very steady. I end up flailing my arms and falling to my hands and knees, trying to get a grip on the canopy so I don't slide off. I'm gonna have to do that a little differently.

Just as I make another attempt, I look to the right as I hear an odd scream. What I see isn't what I expect to see at all. There's some big guy in armor with a rope tied around his waist, screaming and flailing his arms like he's trying to fly. His rope turns to the left, and it snaps, obviously not able to hold his weight. He goes flying, and crashes right into one of the walls on the back of the Prima Vista.

_What the heck was that guy doing?_ I think, shaking my head as I see his backside hang out of the wall. _What an idiot…_

Which is more than I can say for myself.

I whip my head around, realizing that I was too preoccupied in watching the suicidal tin man, and not paying attention to the Princess. But unfortunately, I turn my head too fast, and I lose my grip on the canopy, and start to slide down. _Fast._

As I reach the edge of the canopy, there's nothing to hold onto, and I slip off. But I manage to maneuver myself forward, landing on my feet on the ship's side dock.

I right myself, looking around quickly. I see the band playing the music, but I don't see Garnet.

_Where'd she go?_ I wonder. I hoped she wasn't still on the canopy. How the heck was I supposed to get back up there?

But my thoughts are crushed- and so am I- as something lands on me from above. It's not that heavy, but it's able to knock me to the floor, flattening me onto my stomach.

Owww… Whatever that was caught me off guard.

Or should I say, _who_ever.

I feel the person shift on top of me, and whisper a winded, "Sorry." They get up, and run off to the door on the right.

Hey… I know that voice.

It was Garnet!

I get onto my hands and knees and look in the direction she went. I'm just in time to see the door leading to the inside of the ship slam shut. Geez, why did she _always _manage to stay so far ahead?

I jump up, getting ready to run to the door. But I wince as I feel a sting at the base of my spine.

_Yeesh_, I think, brushing off the pain, _She may not be heavy, but I guess she landed right._This feels like it's starting to get ridiculous. What was supposed to be a '_Get in, dress as a Knight, intercept the chef, and run off with a sleeping Princess_,' had quickly changed to a '_Find Princess in disguise, chase her all over the castle, follow her to a tower, swing on a rope holding on for dear life, and get squashed._' It just couldn't be easy, could it?

Giving my back one more second to get rid of the sting, I rush over to the door.

After throwing it open and going inside, I see Garnet in a corner next to the stairs that lead to the lodgings. And she's in a corner because Ruby's trapped her there.

_Whew…_ I sigh, running over to them. At least she's finally caught.

As I reach them, Ruby spins around, looking directly at me, her crimson lips pursed in frustration. I stop in my tracks. _That's _a dangerous look…

"Hey, Zidane!" she says, her voice full of pure irritation. "Did you see the way this girl hit me!?" Her thick accent, if possible, sounds thicker than usual through the anger.

_Huh?_ I think, glancing past her at Garnet. _Guess she doesn't know who she is._

"Ruby, it's ok," I start, meeting her infuriated glare. I lower my voice. "She's the-"

"What!?" Ruby yells, taking a step forward. I instinctively jump back. There's _no_ way I'm getting in her way when she's angry.

She takes another step forward, and I take another step back. "Are you saying it's ok she hit me!?"

I open my mouth to answer, but Ruby's approach left the stairway open, and Garnet rushes down it.

_Crap._

"I have to go," I say quickly, taking a wide circle around her, wanting to be out of her reach. I hear her try to retaliate as I leave, but I know she won't leave. She's supposed to be getting ready for her entrance in the play.

After rushing down the stairs, I end up in the same room that me, the Boss and the others had our battle. I can see the princess just ahead, so the room is lit, as someone hadn't blown out the candle. Hopefully the Boss won't find out, or he'd have a fit.

Surprisingly, she stops when she reaches the middle of the room, and stands with her back to me. I come up behind her, and stop a few feet away. I don't know what she's doing, but if she's _finally _gonna stop running, then I'm giving myself a breather. Geez… I'd have to rethink the phrase 'I can run fast.' Besides, I don't think she's gonna go anywhere. The door just ahead leads to a dead end, and if she tries to get to the door behind me or on the right, I'll catch her (I might have said it's possible she's faster than me, but I'm sure my reflexes are better than hers… give me a little credit).

It only takes a few seconds for me to regulate my breathing, but I keep my eyes on Garnet. I still don't know what she's doing, and I want to be ready for whatever it is.

Instead of running, she turns to face me. The hood still covers most of her face, but I can see through the shadow that she's nervous. So I wait, guessing that she'll be the one to talk.

Sure enough, with a bit of hesitation, she says, "Do you… work on this ship?"

Hmmm… Now I wonder there this is going. Why would that be her first question when I've been chasing her all this way? Unless she figured out _why_ I was chasing her…

It just kept getting better, didn't it?

- - - - -

**Interlude **

_What am I going to do?_

Garnet just stared at the young man in front of her. He seemed to be waiting for something. But what would she say?

She had expected this to happen. She knew it would, considering that she would have to tell the ship's crew to kidnap her. But she still didn't know how she was going to handle it. Then again, she never expected to have someone chasing her. Although she had asked him if he worked on the ship, she knew he did. She recognized him as one of the actors who dueled as she left her seat. It was kind of hard to forget someone with a tail. But that didn't answer her previous question.

But it didn't matter. She had no choice. She had to get to Lindblum one way or another, and this was the fastest (and currently the _only_) way.

Her stomach mirrored her head's panic as she tried to think of what to say. She would have to tell them who she was, so there was no point in hiding that. But would they be ok with kidnapping a Princess?

Well, there was no point in stalling. She'd just have to be blunt.

"I…" she started, but lost the words. The young man was watching her, but he didn't seem to mind her stalling. He actually seemed to be wrestling with a small problem himself.

She took a silent breath_. Just stay calm… You're doing this for Alexandria… and your mother… No backing out now._ Actually, she had a feeling she couldn't back out even if she wanted to.

Without another word, she met the young man's gaze directly and pushed her hood back, revealing her face.

Finally, she said, "…I am Princess Garnet 'Til Alexandros. And…" she momentarily choked on the words. No backing out now…

"I… I wish to be kidnapped… right away.."

- - - - -

Ok… I don't know if I heard that right, but I could _swear_ that the Princess just willingly revealed to me who she is, and she just said she _wanted _to be kidnapped.

Well, I couldn't deny that she had revealed who she was; she took off her hood and I'm looking right at her face. But I still questioned my ears.

_Wait a minute…_ I think as I keep my gaze on her pleading face. _She_ wants _to be kidnapped… We must have a runaway on our hands._

Now, I'm just intrigued. Why would a Princess want to run from her home? And why did she want us to kidnap her? Where did she think we were gonna take her?

I didn't even realize how long I was wrapped up in my thoughts until she speaks again.

"Please…"

Wow… she looked really desperate. There must be something bad going on, that was for sure. Why else would she run away?

But what do I say? 'Yes, I'll kidnap you, that was my plan anyway.' I'm pretty sure the Boss would be ecstatic if I did that. And by ecstatic, I mean he'd backhand me for being stupid and blowing the mission. But the fact that she wanted to be kidnapped changed a few things. Although she was coming willingly, I couldn't tell her that I was going to kidnap her in the first place. But I also had to say something to ease her mind.

So, I'll do just that.

With a reassuring smile, I say, "Well, I sure would like to know why a member of the Alexandrian Royal Family wants to be kidnapped…" Her face looks distraught as I say this. So I quickly add, "But I think that can wait." I put one of my hands on my chest, and do a small head bow. I look back up at her and say, "For now, I hereby promise to do my best to kidnap you."

As I right myself and let my hand fall to my side, I see her smile with relief.

Wow… she's beautiful…

Just then, we both jump and turn our heads as we hear a loud banging coming from the door on the right.

"Princess!?" a voice calls desperately. I turn my eyes to look back at Garnet as I hear a small gasp. "Steiner…" she says quietly, pulling the hood back over her face.

And, as if someone is trying to play a game of 'Scare the crap out of Zidane and the Princess," the door behind Garnet bursts open, and Cinna comes running out. As she sees this, she yelps in surprise and, as if by reflex, runs behind me and holds my arm tightly, peering around at Cinna.

I look at her with a slightly questioning look. Sure, Cinna scared me too, but she just seemed a little high-strung. Then again, I'm sure I would be too if I was running away from home and asking complete strangers to kidnap me. And she's probably not used to having doors swing open and people coming running out.

"Hey, what are you doing Zidane!?" Cinna asks frantically. Before I can answer him, he looks at Garnet, puzzled. I know he's wondering why she isn't asleep, but he keeps his mouth shut, which I'm glad for.

I turn my head to look at Garnet and say, "It's ok, he's on our side." She looked relieved, and releases her grip on my arm.

"I'm sorry," she says, her tone Royal, but sincere, "You just startled me."

I can't resist. I look at the Princess, but say loud enough for them both to hear, "Yeah, he is a bit scary looking, isn't he?" Garnet looks at me questioningly. She seems to be wondering why I said that. Guess she doesn't get it.

But Cinna sure got it. His face scrunches in anger, and he says, "Zidane, you little-"

But he's interrupted as another pounding is heard on the door. "Princess!?" Cinna's anger melts away as he realizes that we're about to get caught, and he says, "Come on, this way!" then heads toward the door he just came out of.

"Come on," I say to Garnet, heading over to the door. She follows right behind me.

After Garnet runs through, I shut the door. I look over at Cinna, who's standing close to the round table in the middle of the room, scanning the floor as if he's looking for something.

"What are you doing?" I ask, glancing at the shut door as I hear footsteps in the room we were just in. "We have to get out of here!"

"I know," Cinna says, his face lighting up as he finds whatever he was looking for. He stands in front of the table, and says, "Open Sesame!" as he stomps his foot onto something. As he does, the table in front of us flies into the wall opposite me, and a large hatch on the floor opens.

I stare at the deep hole, then I look back at him. He shrugs and says, "I thought we might need it."

"Uh huh," I say, glancing back at the hole. I look at him with a questioning smirk on my face. "Open Sesame?"

He puts his hands up at his sides defensively. "What!? I've always wanted to say that!"

"Ok…" I say, hiding a smile.

But I realize that I shouldn't have stalled as I hear the footsteps form the other room get closer to the door. Cinna hears it too, and jumps into the hole first. I start to turn and tell the Princess to jump, but she's already on her way down the hole before I can open my mouth.

Wow… that was something I didn't expect. She _really_ must want to get out of here if she's gonna pull a stunt like that, especially since I doubt she's ever had to do something like that before.

Shaking the thought form my head, and knowing that we don't have a lot more time, I jump into the hole after her.

The way down was a bit farther than I thought. When my feet hit the ground, I feel a sting of protest in them at the contact. Geez. It would have been nice if Cinna warned us about the drop first. As soon as he sees me reach the floor, he turns and runs through the doorway to the engine room. Garnet waits for me to go first, then follows me.

The engines hiss with steam as we run down the corridor that will lead to the platform dock. We gotta finish the play and get outta here before anyone notices anything.

As we exit the engine room, and enter the room that connects the two, we stop in our tracks as we see something slide down the pole in the middle of the room. There's a big metal clang as it lands in front of us, and it looks at us, pointing at us with a triumphant, "AHA!" He reaches for his sword, and it comes from its sheath with a metallic ring. "No need to worry, Princess!" he says. "I am here to rescue you!"

Instinctively, I rip my daggers from their sheaths, ready to defend myself. How did he get in here? I don't remember anyone seeing us while we were in the castle, even when I was wearing the armor.

Unless…

He's the psycho that was swinging on the rope and crashed into the side of the ship. He must have gotten in through the hole he made, and found his way here.

Well, it can't be that much of a problem. He may be a trained knight, but me and the Tantalus guys are a lot better fighters than most people probably think. Besides, there's only one of him, so I'm sure me and Cinna can take him. I glance behind myself to make sure Garnet is where he can't reach her. She is, so I look back at the knight.

Just then, I glance at the doorway as I hear a set of footsteps. Another Pluto Knight enters the room.

Great… now there's more stakes. We gotta handle _two_ trained knights.

Wait…

I would recognize that guy anywhere…

It's Blank!

Ha, now this Pluto Knight didn't stand a chance against _three_ of us.

Of course, he doesn't yet know that Blank isn't really a knight, so he's got a triumphant look on his face.

Garnet looks completely startled at the sight of another 'knight'. But Blank doesn't waste time in letting her know he's on her side. He takes off his helmet, tosses it to the side, and looks at me, saying, "Looks like we got a drawback to take care of." I don't say anything, but I look back at the knight. That look of victory is wiped clean off and is replaced with rage. I can't help but smile at the fact that we outsmarted him.

"How dare you!" he demands, swinging his sword through the air. Looks like his endurance just went up. Without a warning, he lunges at us with a battle cry, and swings his sword down at me.

I lower myself and roll to the side, dodging the attack, as Blank meets the knight's sword with his own in a shower of sparks. _I'm really getting sick of people trying to take me out with gigantic swords_, I think as I right myself and rush to help. Blank's been shoved back by a harsh blow to his sword, and Cinna can't get in the fight very well when his hammer is up against a sword.

As I run up to meet the knight, he swings his sword with a shout, aiming to take off my head. I duck just in time, and rush to the other side of the pole. I can hear Garnet telling the guy to stop, but he's not listening. It looks like somebody flipped his 'berserk' switch and doesn't want to shut it off.

He twists around and follows me, swinging his sword at my head again. This time, when I duck, he ends up slashing the pole with a loud clang, and actually leaves a dent in it. Geez, this guy REALLY means business. And there's no way I can do any good unless I get an opening to stab at him. But, even if I did he's wearing armor.

As if he could sense the oncoming attack, he turns back around as Blank comes up behind him. The surprise momentarily shocks Blank, and that's all the knight needs. He swings his sword, and it clashes into the armor on Blank's side. I can't tell from here, but I don't think the sword reached his skin.

But that's not what anyone is paying attention to. As Blank got hit, the strings on the bag he wore were cut, and the bag of Oglops fell to the floor. The little bugs leapt out of their cloth prison, and started jumping all over the room.

And this, if possible, is even _funnier_ than when I sent _one _Oglop on Blank.

The knight obviously hates Oglops, because he starts running around, completely forgetting the battle, and shrieks to the top of his lungs. Unfortunately, Blanks right behind him in the screaming, and I guess that ten loose Oglops is too much for Cinna, because he joins their chorus of screeches.

Well, this is our chance. I personally have no problem with the little bugs, so now I'll just have to get the Princes to follow me.

And to my surprise, she's already at my side, looking at me and waiting for me to tell her our next move. Guess she's not afraid of Oglops either.

I sheath my daggers, and say, "This way!" then head for the door opposite the room, the Princess right behind me.

As we enter the platform room, the screams die down a bit, but I don't know what we're gonna do from here. Other than the way we just came, this is a dead end. The platforms lead right up to the stage, and the play is still going on. Last thing we need is to show up with the Princess.

Just then, I turn as I hear someone else enter the room. Cinna pants heavily, but looks at me and says, "Get on number two!" I nod, and run over to the assigned platform. Garnet goes with me, and I don't stop her. If we go up there, there is a chance that she'll be recognized, but if I leave her here, then that knight might come to his senses and fight Blank and Cinna, then take her back. And as it seems, taking her up there seems a little less risky. Especially since she's in a disguise.

I press the switch on the platform, and we're both lifted up toward the stage.

But just as I do, I hear metallic footsteps, and a small yelp from Cinna. But any other sound is drowned out as the platform reaches the stage.

As the stage comes into sight, the guys all stop their lines and look at us. I knew they'd be caught off guard, since we're not supposed to be here, but it wasn't like I had a lot of choice.

The Boss looks at me quizzically and opens his mouth to say something, but he never gets the words out as everyone's attention is turned to another rising platform adjacent to mine.

Crap.

It's that knight.

I watch him for a second, seeing just how confused he is. I guess he got past Blank and took the other platform when he saw me and Garnet go up. I hope Blank's ok…

Then again, I hope _we're_ ok. If the tin man opens his mouth, we're all busted.

Finally, the Boss turns his baffled expression to me. When I look at him, I don't really like what I see. It's a mixture of, '_What the heck are you doing!?' 'Why isn't the princess asleep!?' 'What's this guy doing here!?'_ and _'If we get caught I'll tan your tailed hide!'_

Unfortunately, I can't say that much with looks, so I whisper, "We're just gonna have to improvise!" The Boss looks like he wants to question me further (and do the last thing his look said he wanted to do to me), but he keeps his mouth shut because he knows we'll get caught if he doesn't do what I said.

So, with a look that says, 'I'll deal with you later' (Geez, why does he have to be so good at giving death looks?) he says so the others can hear, "Just keep going. The Queen's still watching."

Without another word, the others continue. I let a small sigh of relief. _I really hope this works._

Acting as if nothing out of the ordinary happened, Marcus breaks free of the 'guards' (Benero and Zenero), and comes up to Garnet.

"Cornelia!"

Crap. Now we have to explain the play to her!? We're all dead!

But, to my surprise (just as much as everyone else's, except for the knight who's still trying to figure out what's going on), she walks up to Marcus, and starts hugging him, saying the lines right out of the play.

_Wow,_ I think as I watch the Princess do the part flawlessly. She's full of surprises.

After I say my line (which I almost blew because I was so impressed that Garnet knew the play), the Boss had to improvise the knight into the play. And he almost ruined it by saying something really loud and looking at the Boss like he grew two heads. _The line wasn't serious you idiot._ For a trained knight that almost whooped our butts, he sure is clueless. Guess he's all brawn and absolutely no brains.

After me and Marcus 'punch' Benero and Zenero (the fight scene was supposed to be a little longer, but we wanna get out of there before something goes wrong) and they run offstage, I can't help but steal a glance at the queen. Damn, she's ugly… Er, I mean, it's hard to tell from here, but she looks too engrossed in the play to tell that anything's amiss. I guess we'll get off of this pretty easily.

And as 'Cornelia's' death scene acts out, I'm surprised to see how well the Princess did it. She really looked like she got stabbed (which was probably why the knight looked like he was gonna have a heart attack). She says the lines perfectly and 'dies.'

- - - - -

**Interlude**

Vivi sniffed back a tear as the play ended. It was so sad… he wished that the man and woman didn't have to die.

"Wow, that was a great play!" Puck chimed next to him, joining in the crowd's vigorous clapping.

"Yeah," Vivi agreed, wiping the unfallen tear out of his eye. He was really glad he came. He had a good time, and he really enjoyed the play.

But the only problem now was what he was going to do. He had a good time, met a few nice people, but now what? He had a good feeling about Alexandria, but he still didn't have anywhere to go. Sure, he had only been there for one day, but he still didn't like the thought of being alone for too long. And it seemed that he would have to be for a while.

Just then, he heard Puck say, "Oh man! Look out!" then run off without another word. Vivi watched him for a second, completely confused at the sudden reaction to… What did he react to?

Vivi turned his head to the right, and his heart leapt into his throat as he saw two guards running right at him. He couldn't stop a terrified squeak from escaping his lips, and turned on his heel and ran after Puck.

But he barely made it three feet before Puck came up suddenly and knocked him to the ground, saying harshly, "Move it!" Vivi couldn't see anything behind him, since he was face first on the ground, but he heard two shouts from the guards, and a few loud clangs of metal on metal.

Remembering the guards, Vivi jumped onto his feet and turned around. The two guards were on the ground in a heap, apparently knocked over by Puck. But the rat kid was no longer in sight.

Vivi felt a sudden pang of panic as he realized that Puck had left without him. Why would he do that?

But he didn't have much time to think on it as the knights started untangling themselves, and one of them pointed at Vivi and told him not to move.

And his first reaction was to run. When he turned around, he saw that the path lead into the castle, and he couldn't go in there. So, he jumped over the rope that separated the passway and the airship, and bolted toward the stage, still not sure what he was doing.

- - - - -

_This guy_ really _needs to get a grip… and a brain…_

The play was over, and the crowd was cheering, so we knew that it meant we managed to pull it off. Although there were a few setbacks, it looked like we'd be able to get out of here in one piece. But the knight was on his knees blubbering like a baby about Garnet (who was still lying in the death position because the curtain didn't close yet), and I just had to shake my head. He _still_ didn't know that it was all a play. Moron…

But suddenly, a movement on the side of the stage caught my eye. And as if I hadn't been surprised enough tonight, I can't believe what I'm seeing now.

A little Black Mage is running on the stage, being chased by two Pluto Knights. I'm so surprised to see it that I can barely process that he just jumped over the Princess, and he's facing them with a look of terror, telling them to leave him alone. What in the world is he doing? How the heck did he get here, and why are the guards chasing him?

And the next surprise takes the cake.

This little guy is so scared, he starts casting a fire spell toward the guards. But he's shaking so much that he misses, and the Princess's cloak catches fire.

In the same second, she realizes that she's gonna go up in flames, and she jumps to her feet with a yelp, throwing the cloak off as fast as she can. She brushes her sleeve off briefly, and I'm guessing that the fire almost got to her skin.

And at that, there's a chorus of gasps from the crowd.

They know it's the Princess

We are SO dead.

I couldn't help but look at the crowd, who are all talking frantically and pointing at the stage. I looked up at the Queen, and her face looked contorted with rage (and that Pluto Knight is obviously outraged at all this and is demanding to know what's going on).

But the Boss seemed to be ready for action.

"ZIDANE!"

And I _really_ hoped that action wasn't going to be tanning my tailed hide.

As I hesitantly turn my gaze to him, Garnet comes to my side. I'm not sure if it's because the Boss scared her, or because I'm the only one she sort of knows. The others are all looking at the Boss (Marcus stopped playing dead) and waiting for his command (and giving me a few sympathetic glances).

But luckily, he looks like he's gonna put off my punishment long enough to get out of here. He looks to all of us and says, "Get 'yer behinds in gear! We leave NOW!"

We all nod, and the Boss runs backstage.

Well, we know that the Boss, Benero, Zenero, Cinna and Blank will get the ship going, and we're going to have to make sure that the people keep off the stage.

And we're gonna have to start with the knight. He looks like he's on the brink of insanity. I swear I could see a vein bulging on his neck when he started screaming.

"WHAT IS GOING ON!?"

Great. Are we gonna have to fight this guy? The two knights that were chasing the Black Mage are right behind him, the whole town and the Queen sees that we have the Princess, so the odds aren't looking too good on our part.

But luckily, the Princess steps up. She looks at the knight and says, "Steiner, don't follow me! Go back to the castle!"

Steiner (I think I like tin man better) calms down right away and looks at Garnet with disbelief. He looks as if he knew that this would happen, but he didn't want to accept it. The two knights behind him stand there, and slowly reach for their swords. My hands instinctively edges toward my daggers, but I don't draw them. I wanna prevent a fight if I can.

But right now, Steiner looks torn. He looks like he wants to listen, but knows he can't. There's a short silence, and he draws his sword.

"I'm sorry, Princess, but I cannot comply." He turns to me, and I've already drawn my daggers.

"Seize them!"

The other knights draw their swords, and all three of them charge.

I jump in front of the Princess as Marcus rips out his sword. As Steiner approaches me, Marcus leaps forward and blocks the blow that would have sliced my shoulder. I back up and grab one of the Princess's arms and pull her back farther.

When we're a safer distance from the dueling Steiner and Marcus, the two knights come after me, battles cries sounding. I take a step forward, putting more distance between them and Garnet, and duck underneath the first swing. The other knight swings downward, and I sidestep to dodge it, then whip my left dagger into his side. It goes through some of the armor, but it doesn't get past the chain link mail underneath. I pull it back out and duck another swing, and turn to meet the other knight, who tried to run me through from the back. I managed to put my weapons in an X shape in front of me, and catch the sword in between them. It's the only second I need to catch him off guard, and slice my daggers down and back, ripping the sword from his hands.

And for a trained knight, he's not very courageous.

As soon as the weapon leaves his hands, he turns around and runs. I watch him with disbelief. They let guys like _that_ guard a royal family?

As the knight disappears from sight (it took him like, two seconds), I catch Garnet's gaze out of the corner of my eye. Before I can say anything. She's looking over my shoulder with her eyes bugging out in terror.

Shoot! I forgot the other guard!

Not having any idea what he's doing, I duck down, and roll off to the side. I can hear the sword whistle past my ear just as I go down. I managed to right myself just in time to sidestep another thrust, but he's in there with another slash right after the first. Geez! I guess their stronger knights make up for the prissy ones.

Well, since I'm up against a sword, and it's hard to do that disarming move I did with the other knight, I'm mostly just dodging, looking for an opening in his attacks so I can jump in with my own. But this guy is good. He's not letting me get in any moves.

But it seems like I have some luck. Out of nowhere, a red flash erupts from his back, and he stumbles forward. And finally, I had an opening.

Although I was fighting for my life here, I didn't want to kill this guy if I didn't have to. So, in his momentary distraction, I shifted my daggers to one hand, and punched the guy in the face, sending him to his back, clutching his nose. I sure wanted to clutch my hand from that punch; you'd have thought that the guy's _face_ was made of armor. But I couldn't put away my weapons in case he decided to fight back.

Now I had a chance to see where the surprise attack came from. I look up, and I see the Black Mage facing us, putting his hands down after casting his magic.

Wow. So the little guy used a fire spell and helped me out. I had to remember to thank him.

I return my attention to the knight, not wanting to be taken by surprise.

And, as if all the heroics had disappeared from this seemingly fearless knight, he got up and ran off, still holding onto his bleeding nose. I just watched in disbelief. The Princess has been kidnapped, and he runs off because of a bloody nose. These guys are supposed to be knights!? Yeah right… Knights my-

I'm pulled back to the goings on as I hear a yell from Steiner. When I look, I see that he and Marcus are still locked in a vicious duel. The two knights I took care of were easy, thanks to their cowardice, but this guy seemed like he'd fight to the death. I was about to go help him, but the ship gives a small shake, and the rudders start to turn.

The Boss got the ship going. We're gonna get out of here.

Sheathing my daggers, and ignoring the fact that I know my hand's gonna swell, I turn to the Princess. My job is to take care of her, and I'm not gonna make any more mistakes than I already have. If I do, the Boss really _will_ kill me.

By the look on her face, she seems to be having a hard time taking in all the things going on. It's the first time all night that she hasn't given the idea that she knows what she's doing. She obviously didn't expect any of this.

Before I can say anything to her, we both turn our heads as a loud, metallic clang is heard. And I'm not very happy with what I see.

On either side of the Queen, turrets are lifting out of their compartments, each with a knight positioned. The things are holding what look like really, _really_ big metal arrows. And they're aimed for the ship.

_Not _good.

Not bothering with words, I grab the Princess's arm and start running toward the other end of the ship. We can't be in the way when those things hit. I just hoped that the guys could get the ship moving before the harpoons fired.

But, not all hopes manage to come true.

After one fire is heard, another fire is heard, and the clinking of giant metal chains is heard over the shouting and panicking crowd as the harpoons hurtle toward the ship. I steal a glance behind me to see where they're headed. One went above our heads, and smashed through one of the ship's towers.

And the other one was heading right for me and Garnet.

Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to get out of the way. The thing crashed into the ship right behind us, splintering the wood and sending boards everywhere. The force sent us both flying forward, and I lost my grip on her arm.

I landed on my side and rolled a few times. I managed to get onto my hands and knees, and look up. The ship is ready to fly, but it's having a hard time getting away because of the harpoons holding it in place. Hopefully the guys can use enough power to break free.

I look to the left, and I see Garnet a few yards away from me, trying to get herself in a sitting position. I quickly lifted myself onto my feet and rush over to her. When I get there, she's sitting up, clutching her head with one hand. I kneel down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you ok?" I ask above the shouts.

"Yes," she says, not looking at me. I believed her, but I still hoped she wasn't seriously hurt.

By now, I have no idea what's been going on with the others. I look over my shoulder, and catch sight of Steiner, who's on his back and trying to get up, shouting something angrily. I can see the Black Mage a little ways away, trying to get onto his feet, but managing to fall back onto his face. Poor kid.

And opposite them, I catch sight of Marcus. I'm surprised to see that he's looking directly at me and pointing toward the turrets, a panic stricken look on his face. I quickly turn my head to see, and it isn't good. What _has _been good since I messed up?

Just above the Queen, a large cannon emerges from the castle wall. No sooner did it clear the storage did it fire something toward us.

A Giant Fire Bomb.

Those are _not_ good creatures. They look like giant balls of fire with piercing yellow eyes, and mouths in the shape of sharpened teeth. It turns its gaze toward the ship, and seems to know that we are its' target. It smiles with its massive mouth, and charges at us.

Keeping my gaze on the monster, I quickly but gently lift the Princess onto her feet. I look at her, and realize that she's already noticed the bomb, and isn't looking to brave about it coming at us.

"Come on!" I say, pulling her arm and leading her the way we were previously heading.

And yet again, I'm surprised as I sword comes swinging at my head. Then again, it's been happening so much today that I shouldn't be surprised.

I ducked out of the way, bringing the Princess with me. I know that they're not gonna hurt her, but I kinda had a grip on her arm, and it was hard not to. As soon I right myself, I whip out my daggers and face the oncoming Steiner.

But what gets me is that he's got his enraged eyes locked on me, and he doesn't seem to have the slightest idea that the Fire Bomb is behind him. And the stupid monster is getting bigger every second. And I know that as soon as it's big enough, it's gonna explode.

And we're all right out in the open.

_Get us out of here!_ I scream to the Boss in my mind. If that thing explodes when we're all right in front of it, we're all dead.

Unfortunately, I also got this berserker knight trying to slice my head off left and right, and he _still_ doesn't know there's a bomb behind him. I guess rage does blind you.

"Hey!" I say, ducking another blow, "There's a Bomb behind you!"

Steiner slices downward as I sidestep. "Shut up you lowly criminal! I will not fall for your tricks!"

"Steiner, Please!" Garnet says behind me. Even though there's a lot of noise around me, I can tell she's a safe distance away from the fight. "Look behind you!"

Steiner casts a fleeting glance at her as if he wants to believe her. But he seems to think that she's just saying it so she can run away like she planned. He ignores her, and keeps trying to slice me.

This is ridiculous. We got harpoons holding the ship in the line of attack, there's a Bomb that looks like it only needs a few more seconds of growth to explode, and I have a stupid knight trying to kill me, and doesn't even know there's a Bomb here! What the heck am I supposed to do!?

Well, I get my answer soon.

The ship suddenly does a jolt, and the sound of splintering wood shatters through the air. The ship gives another jolt, and the harpoons fall from the ship, and it starts turning around. Steiner is momentarily distracted by the noise, and stumbles a bit.

Finally!

I rush forward in his moment of hesitation, and thrust my foot into his stomach, sending him onto his metal back.

_Now_, he can see the bomb right above his head.

His eyes bug out in terror, and I don't waste any time to see his reaction. I sheath my weapons, rush over to the Princess, and drag her to the edge of the deck. I see a large slab of wood leaning against it, and I pull her beneath it. It's not the greatest shelter, but we don't have time to find anything else. I push the Princess against the wall, put my body in front of hers protectively, and wait for the blast.

No sooner were we ready that it came.

The explosion shattered the air, and engulfed the entire ship. The board protecting me and Garnet smashed against us, and we're both pushed into the wall, just barely managing to prevent out heads from banging together. The board protects us from the heat, and we wait for it to stop.

And after a few seconds, it did.

I find myself panting slightly at the scare, and I can hear Garnet doing the same. My eyes had involuntarily closed during the blast, so I open them.

I didn't expect to find myself in the position I'm in now.

Before the blast, I stood in front of the Princess so I would take any damage for her, but when the board hit my back, it pushed me right into her, and now we were standing with our bodies pressed together.

Everything seems to slow down, and I look down, and see her looking back up at me. For some reason, I expected her to shove me away, but she seems too embarrassed to do anything. She just stared at me. But I can tell she's uncomfortable (which I have to admit, I am too), so I pull myself away from her.

Suddenly, everything speeds back up as I remember what happened.

What happened to everybody else!?

Spinning around, I use both hands to shove the board out of the way, and it goes crashing down, revealing the dock.

The whole thing is wrecked. Most of the wood is broken and scattered around, and there's two small fires on one side. I can feel the ship rocking beneath my feet, and it's a wonder it's still flying. I cast my eyes around to check for the others.

To my relief, I see Marcus crawling out of a crevice in the wall on the right, and the little Black Mage comes from behind a smaller piece of wood. Even the knight survived. I'm not really sure how he managed to do it, but he somehow covered himself with loose boards, and he's now slowly emerging from them.

I sigh with relief. Everyone's ok.

Just then, the ship gives a violent shake underneath us, casting us all off balance. Sure, we're all ok now, but this thing is gonna crash any second.

For the first time since the explosion, I look at the surrounding land. We managed to get out of Alexandria, and we're now above a dark, dense area of woods.

I'm not really sure, but if we're where I think we are, we're in trouble.

But before I can do anything, the ship gives another violent shake, and hurtles toward the ground. It starts to tip to one side, and I lose my balance, and go rolling down the deck. I don't have enough time to catch onto anything, and before I know it, I'm falling freely through the air. My stomach jolts as I try to see where I'm falling, but I don't get a chance. It's too dark.

A few seconds later, I hit the ground hard, and roll a few times to the right. I stop on my stomach, and my head starts pounding.

Everything blurred, then it all went black.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Thank you for reading. My decision to continue this will be mostly based on the amount of people interested, so a review will be greatly appreciated._


	3. Evil Forest  The Name Says It All

_Hi_

_Well, here's the next chapter. I hope the length isn't a problem, and I want to thank anyone who is reading this. Enjoy._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ok… out of all the weird things that have happened, and all the panic attacks I've felt, what I'm feeling now takes the cake.

As soon as I feel myself regain consciousness, my head pulses with my heartbeat painfully. I squeeze my eyes shut tightly, making a small wince. Wherever I am, I landed on my head, and it doesn't feel good.

Wait… I don't know where I am. I try to ignore the pain in my head and remember what happened. After the play finished, the ship was attacked, we escaped Alexandria, and I fell off the ship as it started heading for the ground. And apparently, I hit my head when I fell, and it knocked me out.

So… where's everybody else?

Finally, I open my eyes. I'm lying in the dirt on some kind of small hill, and it's really dark. Not so dark that I can't see. It's more of a gray gloom, almost like there's never any sunshine here.

I lift myself on my hands and knees and groan. That didn't help my head. I instinctively put a hand on it, wincing again. I get onto my feet, and close my eyes momentarily. After a few seconds, my head starts to clear enough for me to think better.

I remove my hand from my head and look at it, flexing it a bit. I'm relieved to feel that it didn't swell as much as I thought it would. Actually, it feels good for a fist that just punched an iron face. But that was the least of my worries.

Lifting my head, I look around me. I'm on a small cliff surrounded by tall, dark pines. The sky is dark, and has a gray mist wafting about it.

Ok. I've never been here before, but I've heard enough about it to know where I am.

Evil Forest.

The stories I've heard about this place aren't pleasant. People have said how friends or family have traveled into its depths, and never returned. And those who did come out always managed to show up with terrible injuries, and not all of them survived.

But I can't let myself freak out. Right now, I just have to find the Prima Vista, and hope that everyone's ok.

So, I turn to my right and walk to the edge of the cliff. And I don't really like what I see.

There's the ship, lying on its belly in the middle of a clearing, falling apart and secreting smoke from a few areas. If anybody survived it, it's gonna be a miracle. But I'm not gonna find out by just standing here. So I looked to the right, found a small path, and headed down it.

- - - - -

**Interlude **

_Where am I?_

Garnet opened her eyes. At first, she couldn't remember what had happened, or why she was lying on the ground. She blinked, and the area around her became more clear.

She was lying on a patch of dirt, and she could see a dark pine tree in front of her. There was an occasional chirp of a cricket, and some more unfamiliar sounds wafted through the air once in a while. Almost like a growl that carried over the wind. It sent a shiver up her spine. Where was she? All she remembered was falling off the ship as it rolled over, and everything went black when she hit the ground. She had no idea where anyone else was.

Getting onto her hands and knees, she took a quick look around. Most of the area around her was covered in the tall trees, and there wasn't any path visible.

Her heart started pounding, and she took a shuddering breath of fear. This had _not _gone right. The ship she was escaping on was gone, and she was lost. Wherever she was, she was alone, and she didn't know where to go.

Turning her head more to the right, she caught sight of something in the darkness. She squinted slightly, trying to make out the shape. It was small, and she could see a pointy hat on top of its head.

Hey… wasn't that the Black Mage?

Staying on her hands and knees, she crawled over to him. He wasn't that far away. She stopped next to him, and looked down. He was lying on his stomach, and she couldn't see his face.

Although she didn't know this kid, she was glad that she wasn't alone. And she couldn't just leave him there.

Lifting one hand, she gently shook his shoulder.

"Hey," she said quietly, finding it hard to raise her voice to a louder pitch. Another strange sound carried in the wind and brushed against her ear, and she shivered. She shook the Black Mage harder, her fear beginning to get the better of her.

"Hey," she said a bit louder, her voice beginning to shake. This time, the mage responded. He made a small groan, and got onto his hands and knees. Garnet removed her hand from his shoulder, and waited for him to notice her. She couldn't make herself talk through the lump of fear in her throat. Instead, she cast her eyes around the area, feeling a negative vibe in the air. Something didn't feel right.

The mage groaned again, and fell back into a sitting position. His eyes were slightly closed, and he blinked them open, as if he had just woken from a deep sleep. His eyes landed on Garnet, and they widened.

"P-Princess Garnet!?" he asked, seemingly surprised at the sight of her, and not noticing where he was. Garnet nodded, stealing another glance over her shoulder. She really had a bad feeling. The air kept sending strange rumbles to her ears, and she kept feeling like she was being watched.

She turned back to him, and asked, "Are you alright?"

Vivi took a second to verify his body's condition. He gave a small nod. "Yeah. Are you ok?"

"Yes." Physically, it was true, but her mind was in a panic.

They sat for a few moments in silence, taking in their surroundings. Vivi began to shiver, feeling the negative aura in the air, and feeling like they were in danger.

Finally, Garnet stood up. Obviously, they couldn't just sit there. They had to try and find the ship, and see if anyone was still there. She couldn't figure out what to do on her own.

"Let's try to find the ship," she said, keeping her gaze on the forbidding trees. Vivi got onto his feet and followed her gaze, nodding in agreement. They couldn't stay here. Something about this place wasn't right.

Suddenly, as if their attempt to escape had been detected, they both swung their gaze to the right as a loud sound was heard, like breaking through underbrush and branches.

And right in front of them appeared a large, very angry monster.

Garnet's eyes widened, and her jawed slacked in pure horror. The monster had no eyes, but it faced them directly, whipping its two vines in the air threateningly, a strange, gurgling growl bubbling in its throat.

"RUN!" Vivi shouted, pulling on Garnet's sleeve briefly before turning around and running off. Garnet took a terrified breath as the monster spat a hissing snarl, and charged at her. She finally pulled herself out of her stupor, and ran after Vivi.

They broke through the trees, their blood racing and adrenaline carrying their feet faster than they would have thought possible. The cackling hisses of the monster could be heard behind them, along with its pursuit through the underbrush, and an occasional crack of one of its whip like vines.

The two ran side by side, shoving branches out of the way as they ran through the darkness. They had no idea how long they had been running, but their minds only let them think about escaping the attacking monster, and time was forgotten.

Eventually, they broke through the trees, and found themselves on a cleared path. It wasn't very wide, but it lead a straight path left and right. They both turned to the left in unison, and continued their rapid escape.

After an unknown amount of time, the monster's cackles began to fade. They became farther and farther away, and eventually, they could no longer be heard. The two slowed their pace, the came to a stop. They panted heavily, turning and looking down the path for any sign of the monster.

It was gone.

They stood still for a moment, hearts beating violently against their rib cages. Their breathing slowed, but the fear remained. What _was_ that thing? Where were they? How were they going to find the ship with monsters like that chasing them?

Finally, Vivi gulped in a few more breaths, and said, "Is it gone?"

Garnet looked at him. "I… I think so."

Oh, how they were wrong.

No sooner did they words leave her mouth did something burst from the trees on their right and wrap its vines around Garnet. She gave a scream of surprise and terror, and Vivi stumbled back, falling onto his backside, watching with bugged out eyes.

The monster grabbed Garnet, and landed in the clearing. It set her on top of its head, and closed its vines around her like a cage. She tried to fight back, but a strange, green fog wafted from its pores, and she coughed as she breathed in the gas.

A sudden weakness engulfed her body, and it suddenly became hard to move. Her limbs stiffened, and her head fogged up.

Everything in front of her blurred, and in the next second, everything went black.

- - - - -

I leapt off the small boulder, and landed in a clearing. The ship is right in front of me, smoking wood towering over me. I can see a large pile of supplies just outside the doors, and someone kneeling next to a figure that's leaning against a box. I sigh. Looks like there's some survivors.

But… how many?

I rush forward, and hurtle over the dead log in front of me. I rush over to the figures, and find that it's Cinna, tending to an injured band member. He hears my footsteps, and looks up.

"Zidane!" he says, righting himself and facing me. I stop in front of him.

"You're alive!" he says with a smile, his voice echoing his obvious relief. "We were looking all over for you! Are you ok!?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I say, casting a glance at the injured band member. I look back at Cinna, and say, "Where's everybody else? Are they ok?"

"Yeah, everybody's fine," Cinna says, calming his voice. "Just a few minor injuries. Nothing serious."

I feel a weight lifted off my shoulders. But I don't let myself relish on it. There's a lot more things to worry about.

Cinna's face darkens a bit. "But…"

My shoulders sag. What's wrong…?

Cinna fidgets with his sheathed hammer, and says, "The only problem is that we can't find the Princess. Blank's looking for her inside, but we already checked most of the ship."

Great. We kidnap the Princess, and now we can't find her. If _she's_ dead, _we're _dead.

For some reason, I feel like it's my fault. It was my job to kidnap her and get her to the ship. But I ended up messing up, and now look where we are. Sure, she was the one who decided to take us by surprise and try to run away. But it seemed like everything went downhill after I started chasing her. Maybe I could have tried something a little differently, and we wouldn't have ended up where we are now.

But I can't let myself dwell on mistakes. It does nothing but waste the time you could be using to make it right.

"Ok…" I sigh, scratching the back of my head as I think. I eye the ship for a minute, then look at Cinna, letting my hand fall to my side. "It doesn't mean she's dead. Maybe she fell off the ship like I did."

Cinna snorted quietly. "Well that makes me feel better…" he said sarcastically. I roll my eyes and ignore his negativity.

"I'll go back in the forest and look for her," I say. "If she's out there, she can't be that far."

Cinna frowns a bit, as if he doesn't like the idea. But I can tell he knows there's not much else we can do. He nods, and says, "Well, be careful. We can't send anyone with you cause we're trying to get the supplies out of the ship and put the fires out."

I nod reassuringly. "I'll be fine." With that, I turn around and rush around the log, heading into a path and out of sight.

As I enter the dark path, I start to get nervous. The stories I've heard about this place aren't giving me much courage to stand on, but I try to ignore it. I gotta try to find the Princess and bring her back. I gotta try to fix my mistakes so the Boss won't kill me.

But that's not the only reason. I just feel like I have to protect her, and not just because it was my job. I just feel like I need to protect anyone that I'm with, no matter who they are. If they're a friend, I'll protect them. And if I got them in a mess, I'll help them out. And if I know that it's in my power, I'll help who I can. I've always been that way. Blank always said that it was my best, and stupidest trait. He understood why I did it, but he thought I was nuts for being so willing to put my life on the line for people, especially ones I hardly knew. But it was ok. It was something that I just felt I had to do. Just my nature, I guess.

I emerged from the dark trees, and found a small path. I hear the occasional hoot of an owl, and a rustle of leaves somewhere in the distance. I slowly unsheathe my daggers, and hold them at the ready as I walk. I know I'm gonna have to be ready for anything.

And just as I tell myself that, I hear a scream up ahead.

The sound makes my stomach do a flip-flop. Unless there's some girl lost here, then that was _definitely_ Garnet.

And she's in trouble.

I run forward, hoping that I can find the area where the scream was heard. There are no more sounds, so I hope that she's nearby, and that I'm not too late. I run for about a minute, and round a corner.

And I didn't expect everything that I see.

There's a large monster a few yards ahead, with Garnet wrapped in a vine prison. Just in front of it, I can see Steiner with his sword drawn, facing the monster and demanding it to let the Princess go. And just ahead of me, I can see the Black Mage sitting, facing the monster, shaking violently with fear.

Until now, I had completely forgotten about those two. I never saw what happened to anyone after I fell off the ship, so I'm wondering how they all managed to be together.

But I leave the questions for later as I remind myself the danger that Garnet is in. I run past the Black Mage and stand opposite Steiner, facing the monster that hisses as I approach.

As soon as I reach them, Steiner turns his head toward me, and his eyes bug out with rage and surprise.

"YOU!" he demands, his eyes now on me instead of the monster. What an idiot… Pay attention to the monster, would you!?

"What are you doing here!?"

"I'm here to help," I say, not taking my eyes off of the monster's hissing form. My eyes dart to Garnet. She looks like she's asleep. Yeah… I _hope_ she's just asleep…

Steiner opens his mouth to argue, but the monster lashes one of its vines towards him, and he jumps back to dodge it. Now he keeps his gaze on it.

I flip my weapons in my hands as a small warm-up. "No time to argue. Just fight." I don't know if he's going to listen, but he questions me no further.

And the monster seems to decide its time to take action.

With a cackling gurgle, it lifts two of its vines and cracks one at Steiner and one at me. We both manage to dodge, and we leap in with the attack.

As I jump in, I slice my left weapon at the monster, leaving a slice on its front. It cackles in protest, and swings its vine at me. As I jump back, I hear Steiner give a war cry, and slice down, cutting one of the monster's vines clean off. It gurgles again, and lifts another vine to replace the one lost, swinging it at Steiner's head.

Well, those two injuries seem to have _really_ ticked it off. Now, it's lifted two more vines, and is whipping them in a frenzy. I'm having a hard time dodging them. As soon as I duck one, another swings toward my side, and I just barely manage to step away. I'm too focused on dodging to see Steiner, but I can hear him grunting with the effort, and an occasional clink of metal as his armor gets whipped. It's got to be hard to move fast with that tin can.

By now, neither of us can get in any attacks. All of our energy is focused on trying not to lose our heads. I steal another glance at the Princess. She looks just as unconscious as she did when I first saw her, and I really hope that's all it is.

But I shouldn't have averted my gaze as long as I did. It leaves an opening in my dodging, and, before I know what's happening, I get a vine slammed into my stomach, sending me flying backwards. I land on my back hard a few yards away, and it temporarily winds me. I lift my head to see what's going on, and I see that Steiner is still having as much luck as he was having before. But what surprises me is that the Black Mage is now approaching the monster with his hands up in an attempt to cast magic.

I force some air into my lungs, and make an attempt to stand. As I do, I see the monster retreat slightly. It looks like it's threatened at the sight of another attacker. At first, I think it might let Garnet go and escape.

But instead, it takes a deep breath, and heaves a gaseous green air out of its mouth, engulfing the Black Mage and Steiner. It doesn't reach me because I'm too far away. As the green smoke fades, the two stumble a bit, then fall to the ground, unmoving.

What did that thing do!?

I look up as I hear the monster make another strange growl. No sooner did I catch sight of it did it flap its multiple vines like wings, and fly off with Garnet still trapped in a cage.

It disappeared from sight over the trees. I finally get onto my feet, wincing again at the welt on my stomach. It got away. That _thing_ got away with Garnet. And who knows where it was going, or what it was going to do with her. What was I supposed to do now?

I look down, and I'm reminded of the Black Mage and Steiner. They're both lying on their stomachs, unmoving.

I put my weapons away and rush over to them. I might as well worry about the Princess later and help who I can right now. I kneel down next to the Mage, and gently turn him over. His eyes are closed, but he makes a very weak groan. At least he's alive. I get up and go check on Steiner. I can't flip him over because his armor makes him a bit too heavy, so I check his pulse. He's got one, so I sigh with relief. Now I just have to get them to the ship.

- - - - -

I fold my arms and glare at him. He's kidding. He's _got _to be kidding.

"This ain't no joke, boy."

I guess he's not kidding.

"Really?" I say with fake sincerity, "Cause your cowardice is what seems to be the joke here."

The Boss took a step forward and pointed a warning finger at me. "Don't you run 'yer mouth with me! I ain't no coward! I'm doing this for the sake of my boys, you included." He lowers his finger and uses a less angry tone. "Goin' after the Princess is too risky right now. We got too many wounded members to take care of, and going out in this place unprepared is suicide. She's just gonna have to survive on her own."

I unfold my arms and look at him like he grew two heads. "Weren't you listening to me before!? She was _taken _by a _monster!_ She _can't_ take care of herself!"

Baku waved off the comment with a hand. "And _I_ told _you_ that I've heard of the monster you saw. It's just a minion, and will take her to its master. She's still alive, and she's got time before it eats her."

I roll my eyes angrily. "Well, that just makes me feel _so_ much better!"

Baku sighs in frustration and scratches the back of his head. "Zidane, listen." He looks at me and uses a more gentle and understanding tone. "I know you don't like it when you can't help people. But right now, we need to get ourselves prepared before we go anywhere. I can't worry about the Princess until I know my boys are safe." He pauses, seeming to be looking for a sign that I'll agree. Obviously, he doesn't see one, so he says, "But if you want, you know that 'yer always free to leave and go get her yourself."

"Then that's what I'll do." Without another word, I turn on my heel and storm out of the room. I can hear the Boss grumble something under his breath, but I ignore it as I descend the staircase.

_What a jerk,_ I think as I make it to the bottom. I stand there and fold my arms. How can he think he can just abandon her like this? I understand that he wants to make sure that we're safe, but if someone is willing, why can't they just go after her? Sure, it might not be easy, but I have to do it. I would never forgive myself if something happened to her, and I knew that there was something that I could have done.

But… the Boss was right. Going out in these woods unprepared would be suicide. I know I can get enough supplies. I just have to get my pouch from my hiding place, and that would take care of that. But as much as I know I'm a good fighter, I can't walk around here alone. I'm gonna need help. But I don't know who I can get for that. The guys will just say that I'm being stupid for leaving the band again, and that I'll die if I leave. As much as they are my friends, they won't help me.

Just then, I look to my left as I hear a door open. Blank walks out of a small room, and shuts the door behind him. Now I remember that he was taking care of the Mage and the Knight. Apparently, the green gas that they ended up breathing in was some kind of seed planting thing, and they would have died if Blank didn't give them a potion he whipped up. That was his specialty; potions. Not a lot of different kinds, but he usually came up with the most useful ones.

As he looks up he sees me and approaches me.

"Hey."

"Hi," I say, unfolding my arms and turning to meet him. "How are they?"

"They're gonna be fine. I just gave some potion to the Black Mage, and he's resting right now. It won't take long for it to take effect." He smirked a bit as if he couldn't hide the humor he found in his next words. "The Knight seemed to be too high strung for bed rest, so Benero and Zenero gave him some seed remover and locked him in the instrument storage room. It was the only room besides the one the mage is in that he wouldn't be able to get out of. All the other rooms would fall apart if you so much as touched the wall."

I nod, the information making me feel better. At least they would be ok.

Wait… That's right! Steiner would go with me! Granted that he was more concerned about helping Garnet then killing me. Maybe I could convince him that it was the only way to help her. And, actually, it would be true.

"Oh," Blank said. "I almost forgot. I think the mage wanted to thank you for saving him."

Hmmm… Well, I guess I could wait a little longer. Besides, I have to thank him too. I nod and head for the door.

I close the door after I enter the room. I take a quick glance around. It's in bad shape. Most of the boards are gone or loose, and the walls are falling apart. We're lucky that this thing is still holding together.

I turn my head to the right, and see the mage lying on the single bed on the other side of the room. He heard me come in, and is sitting up, looking at me.

"Hi," I say, walking over to him. I stand next to the bed, and he sits a bit more comfortably, facing me on the bed. He doesn't look directly at me, and his shoulders are slightly slumped. I guess I can't blame him. He's probably still tired from the monster's poison, and he can't be very comfortable being in a strange place with people he hardly knows.

"How do you feel?" I ask, hoping to make him feel more content.

He nods shyly. "Better." He keeps quiet.

I glance to the side. This is a little weird… Guess he's just shy.

"What's your name?" I ask. Gee, that's something I should have found out quite a while ago. Then again, I guess it was kinda hard during the other times we met. I don't think '_This thing is trying to chop my head off! Hey, what's your name_?' would have been very intelligent. He looks up at me.

"Vivi."

I nod. "Hi, Vivi," I say brightly. "Nice to officially meet you. I'm Zidane."

He nods again. "It's nice to meet you, sir."

I blink in surprise. That's weird… No ones ever call me by anything so respectful. You don't get a lot of that when you're in my 'profession.'

"Uh, you don't have to be formal Vivi," I say reassuringly. "I said my name is Zidane. Just call me that, ok?"

"Ok." He paused, then said, "Thanks for saving me."

"Sure thing," I say as if it was no trouble at all. "And I wanted to thank you for helping me in Alexandria. That guard would have sliced my head off if you didn't jump in with your magic."

Vivi smiled a bit, looking somewhat embarrassed at the thanks. "Well, I didn't really know who to help, but… the guards were after me, and they looked like they were going to kill you, so… I just wanted to help."

"And I appreciate it," I say sincerely. He smiles again, then stays quiet. He's a nice kid. Shy, but he seems like he almost has the same attitude as me. He helped someone who was in trouble even though he didn't know them. And hey, that was all good with me.

"And," he starts to say. I look at him and wait for him to finish. He averts my gaze and says his next words with a lot of guilt. "I'm sorry I couldn't fight when the Princess was in trouble."

I look at him sympathetically. "Hey, don't worry about it," I say. He looks at me. "You were just scared, and that's understandable." I smile. "Besides, I'm gonna go find her."

His eyes light up. "Really?"

"Yep. I'm gonna get that knight to go with me. With the two of us, I bet we can find her and help her."

Vivi looks relieved at my words. He straightens a bit and says, "I hope you find her."

I nod. "I will. Now you get some rest. You're gonna need it."

He nods. "Ok." He lays back on the bed, and turns his head toward the wall.

I turn, and head toward the bunk bed on the other side of the room. That was a pretty easy conversation. I hope that he doesn't find it rude that I'm leaving already. Then again, he knows why, so it doesn't matter.

Now, I have to focus on finding Garnet, and I doubt there's much time.

I kneel next to the bed, and look at the floorboards. I used to have a hiding place under one of the loose boards, but it broke during the crash. I can see my pouch underneath a couple of wood splinters.

I move them out of the way and pick it up. It's a small drawstring pouch, about the size of both of my fists. I turn it over in my hands and check its condition. It doesn't look like it was damaged.

Ok, I know what you're thinking; why is some little pouch so important that it had to be hidden under a floorboard? Well, because this isn't just a pouch. It's a rare make that holds an unlimited amount of items, no matter how big (well, ok it's not like I could make a house go in it, but you get my point). And I know what you're thinking now, and _no_ I didn't steal it, I bought it. Some guy in Lindblum was selling them a few years back and I got one. The guys didn't care to get one, but afterwards they realized what a cool item it was and kept trying to 'borrow' it without asking. So, whenever I didn't need it, I would hide it here. I put it there just before the play to make sure I wouldn't lose it.

I stand up and tie it tightly to my belt. There's nothing in it right now because I haven't needed it for a while. So, I'm just gonna have to fill it up with stuff, then get the knight, and be on my way.

I leave the room, and decide to get the stuff first. I pass the staircase and enter the next room. I turn to the boxes on my left, and start rummaging through them. After about five minutes, I've found a few regular potions and about as much food supplies as I think is necessary, and put it all in my pouch. There's not many other useful things; just a bunch of extra weapons that I don't know how to use, so I turn and walk to the other side of the room. I see Benero and Zenero standing on either side of the instrument room. I chuckle slightly. I guess he's been giving them some trouble if they have to guard the room.

They see me approach, and Benero says, "Hey Zidane."

"Hey guys," I say as I stop in front of the door. "Why are you guarding the door?"

"Cause the knight's in there," Zenero says. "He kept trying to run off without taking his potion cause he had to 'Save the Princess no matter what the cost!'" Benero smirks, and Zenero continues. "But we got him to take the potion and stay in the room until he recovers. We just wanted to make sure he wasn't gonna run off and get himself killed."

I nod. Well, from the sound of it, it won't take much to get him to help the Princess. Now I just have to see if he'll agree to go without killing me.

"I gotta talk to him," I say. "Do you mind?"

"No, of course not," Benero says, pulling the key out of his pocket and unlocking the door. "Just be careful," he says as he turns back around. "He's not very happy that he had to be near us."

"Sure thing," I say, then enter the room.

I shut the door behind me, and look to the other side of the room. Steiner is sitting on a table, and his eyes locked onto me as soon as I entered the room. I approach him, ignoring his death glare.

"Hey there," I say casually. Steiner's face turns red with anger. He jumps of the table and faces me.

"What do you want!?" he demands, doing nothing to hide how much he loathes that I'm in the same room as him.

I ignore his anger and say, "I just thought you'd like to know that I'm gonna go look for the Princess, and I wanted you to come with me." The request seems to surprise him. His face goes back to its normal color, and he looks at me quizzically.

But I guess it's not that easy. He scrunches his face in anger and says, "I will not allow a commoner to accompany me in the rescue of the Princess! This is just a trick for one of your schemes!"

I roll my eyes. This guy is stubborn, isn't he? I guess to be a knight he should be kinda suspicious when things involve the Princess… and for a knight, he sure has a good amount of rust on his armor. Well, at a first glance it's not visible, but when you're standing there talking to him, you can see a patch by his shoulder, his thigh, and his side.

Ok, now I'm looking at his stupid armor. Back to the subject, Zidane.

Keeping my voice casual, I say, "Actually, the Boss said that it was too risky to go after her, and I didn't agree, so I decided to go without him or the others. But I know I can't do it myself, so I'm asking you to help." Again, Steiner's face goes back to its normal structure. He just stares at me, his lip twitching occasionally. I hide a smirk; I can just see the cranks working in his brain as he calculates the risks involved in going with me. Not that there'd be any risks with me that there would be without. He'd be better off with someone.

Finally, he seems to have made up his mind. "Fine," he says grudgingly. He stares me down and says his next words like a warning. "But I am only doing this for the sake of the Princess. If I so much as _suspect _that you are pulling me into a trick, I _will _kill you."

"Fair enough," I say. I'm not trying to trick him, so I have nothing to worry about. Well, maybe I should worry that he might just decide I'm not trustworthy because I'm with a band of thieves, and kill me anyway. Guess I'll have to keep an eye on him.

"Now," he starts, surprising me with his sudden decision to talk, "We must go seek out the Black Mage's help."

"Vivi?" I ask, puzzled.

"Is that his name?"

"Yeah."

"Then yes, Master Vivi."

I blink and look at him with confusion. "'Master'?"

Steiner rolls his eyes. "Yes, you common thief. His powers are needed on this quest, and I trust his abilities more than yours."

"Wait," I say, still confused, "How did you know he had good powers?" Vivi wasn't able to fight against that monster, so how would he know?

Steiner looks impatient with my 'slowness.' He grinds his teeth and says, "Because he is a Black Mage, and they all have magical power. And, I saw him attack one of my knights in Alexandria. If he could make one of my knights flee so easily, he must be strong."

Ok, it's _really_ hard not to laugh in his face. No, I don't doubt that Vivi does have a lot of power, but doesn't this guy realize that his knights ran because they were cowards? But I manage to keep my mouth shut. If I insult his knights, I bet he'd forget our compromise and just kill me right here.

"Well," I start, keeping my laughter inside (at a great expense to my stomach, which protests to keeping in so much laughter), "I don't want to force him, but I guess we can see what he thinks."

"Good," Steiner says simply. "Now, we must leave immediately. We have no time to waste." I nod in agreement, and turn to leave, his metal footsteps right behind me.

I lead the Knight to Vivi's room (and I'm a bit surprised that he seems to have recovered so well. I guess he just heals well, or he's determined to help Garnet) and we approach his bed. The mage sits up and faces us, seeming to have a bit more energy than when I left him earlier. He looks a bit surprised to see me back and to see another person with me.

"Hi, Vivi," I say as Steiner and I reach his bed. "Feel better?"

He nods. "Yeah."

"Good." I pause. So, how do I word this?

But Steiner beats me to it. He salutes Vivi like royalty and says, "Master Vivi, it would be my pleasure if you would accompany _us_ on a mission to rescue the Princess." He says 'us' forcefully, as if it causes him great pain to admit that I'm going with him.

Vivi's bright yellow eyes widen. "W…what?"

"Well," I start, "It's gonna be hard to find her in these woods. Who knows where that monster took her, and the more help we have looking and fighting anything we run into, the better."

"B-but," Vivi stutters, making me feel guilty for even asking. Why did I let Steiner convince me to talk to him?

"I can't help… When she got caught, I was so scared I couldn't do anything…"

"But you jumped into the fight in Alexandria," I offered. "You were a lot of help, remember?" Vivi averts his eyes, and fiddles with his hands. He's quiet for a minute, and says, "…Yeah. I guess that if I can help, then I will. I wanna make sure that the Princess is safe."

"Wonderful!" Steiner chimes. He lowers his saluting arm and says, "We shall be off when all is ready!" Vivi nods, and scoots off the bed. He seems to have a little more confidence.

Well, I think we're ready. We got supplies and weapons….

Wait. "Vivi? Do you have a weapon?"

"A weapon? …No. I just use magic."

"Hmmm… Well, you're gonna need something. Come on." I turn and leave the room, the other two following.

I head back to the boxes in the other room, and look through them. I remembered seeing something in it that he could use. It only takes a second to find it.

I pull out a small wooden staff that's just barely shorter that Vivi. It's made of a hard wood, and the end is gnarled into a circular pattern. It's got a polished surface, and a two inch wide, three inch long curved blade on front of the gnarled top. I turn and offer it to him.

"Here." He hesitates, then takes it. He looks at it, and I say, "It's a Mage Staff. You can focus your magic a little easier with it, and you can use the blade in fights when you're too tired to cast any more magic." He turns it in his hands, then looks up at me.

"You can keep it," I add.

"Thanks," he says, clearly grateful for it.

"No problem."

Well, I think that's all we need. And we can't waste any more time than we already have.

"Ok, let's go." I lead the way across the room, and down the staircase.

After turning to the right and entering the room that connect the ship and outside, I turn as I hear the door bursts open.

"Zidane, hold on," Blank says, rushing over. Steiner grumbles under his breath, but I ignore him. "What's up Blank?"

He stops in front of me, looking at me seriously. "You didn't say you were leaving the band."

I fold my arms. Yeah… I guess I didn't mention it to anyone else. I just kind of decided it on impulse when I was talking to the Boss.

"Well, yeah," I say, feeling a bit sheepish for planning on leaving without saying anything. "But I've left before, so it shouldn't surprise you."

Blank chuckled. "It doesn't. I just want to know when you're leaving."

"…Sorry."

"It's not a big deal. I just found out cause the Boss was walking around mumbling about what a thick-headed moron you were, so I figured that meant you were leaving." I chuckled silently. Well, at least he was taking out his frustration with words, and not deciding to pummel me. Speaking of that, I better get out of here before he remembers that he hasn't 'punished' me yet for my mess up during the kidnapping.

I unfold my arms and say, 'Well, I guess I'll be seeing you later." Blank nods, as if it's nothing that should be doubted, then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small vile. He hands it to me and says, "If you find the Princess, I bet she'll need this. It's the same seed remover I gave you guys," he says, temporarily turning his gaze to Steiner and Vivi. I look at the violet liquid for a second, then slip it into my pouch. "Thanks."

Blank nods, then says with a little concern showing on his face, "Just be careful."

I smirk. "Oh, come on Blank, you know me. I'm _always _careful."

Blank rolls his eyes and smirks back. "That's what I'm worried about."

We chuckle silently, and leave it at that. Neither of us is very comfortable admitting what might happen to me. But I know I'm accepting it easier than Blank is. Like I said, I'm willing to put my life on the line to help others, and the guys don't like the idea of me getting killed in the process. But they have to understand that I have to do it. They know I can't just sit back when someone is in trouble, and I know I can help.

I give him a small smile, and say, "See ya later." He nods, gives a small wave and turns around, going back through the door he entered in. I turn and head outside, Vivi and Steiner following.

Ok, time to focus on finding Garnet. I lead them to the opening in the path, and we start walking down it. I think it's a good idea to start our search in the place that she was taken. Even though it flew off, we might be able to find a way to track it.

We remain quiet until we reach the area. The trip there was a bit uncomfortable, considering that the only noises were that of monster growls and an occasional rustle of leaves. It's enough to put your nerves on end. But I remain calm. We're not gonna find Garnet if we panic.

Once we get to the area, I approach the spot where the monster was standing, and kneel down to examine it. There's scuffs on the ground from its strange footprints, and there's a black liquid staining an occasionally patch of earth. My mind thinks back to the fight; when we injured the monster, it oozed a black colored blood.

_Well, this will make tracking a little easier,_ I think as I stand back up. Steiner comes up behind me and looks at the ground. "What is that?"

"Monster blood," I say, looking to the trail ahead. "We can use it to track the monster, then maybe we'll find the Princess."

"How long do you think it will take to find them?" Vivi asks, eyeing the blood.

"It depends on how often we find a trail of blood," I answer. I look up as I remember the monster flying over the trees. I look back at the trail, and see that it curves to the right. Good thing we can stay on the trail for now. It's not a good idea to go off into woods like this. I take off in a jog, and the others follow me.

After turning the corner, another trail the same size as the previous one comes into view. I slow a bit to check the surrounding ground. We go a few yards and find nothing, but I spot another blood patch just ahead. I stop and kneel down to examine it. Yep. It's the same blood. I get up, and continue down the trail.

We travel for a few minutes, jogging when we can and try to stay on the trail. So far, we haven't run into any other monsters, and we've found two more blood patches, but I'm still not sure how far we have to go. Steiner and Vivi stay quiet most of the time, both seeming to be a bit spooked by the negative presence of the woods.

Finally, after about twenty minutes, we turn another corner and, about one hundred feet ahead we see a large cave opening. It's about twice my height, and the inside is too dark to see. I look down, and see a steady trail of black blood leading straight into it.

_Well, there's our destination,_ I think, drawing my daggers. I hear Steiner's sword clear it's sheath, and a rustle as Vivi readies his staff.

"Ok," I say in an undertone, keeping my eyes on the cave opening, "The Princess is probably in there, but I doubt the monster is. My Boss is a bit familiar with these kinds of creatures, and he says the monster that took her most likely brought her to its master."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Steiner says behind me, his tone somewhat impatient and suspicious. I keep back my comment to his tone, and say, "It means that there's gonna be one _big_ monster in there, and if the Princess is still alive, we're gonna have to kill it to get her back." He says nothing, but I hear him shuffle a bit, letting me know that he's a bit nervous at the news.

_Well, here we go,_ I think, then I start forward, the others following.

We enter the cave without so much as a thought when we reach it. It's so dark that we can't see anything in front of us. There's a dead silence, and the only sound is that of our footsteps. I just hope that the thing's not gonna jump out at us.

After a minute, a weak light peaks at us ahead. Apparently, this was a tunnel, and that's the other end. We quicken our pace, and make it to the mouth.

And right in front of us is one of the biggest, _ugliest_ monsters I've ever seen.

At a glance, it looks like a giant flower. But at a close inspection, it's a very large, _moving_ flower, two giant arm-like vines lying on each side, and some kind of liquid seeping out of its petals. The one thing I'm thankful for is that it's planted in the middle of the ground (like a flower should be). At least it will have a limited reaching area.

As we enter, it senses us and faces us (well, at least I think it's facing us. I'm sure that the petals are its front and the thick root is its back), a low screech echoing from the middle of the plant (dang, the thing has a mouth). The vines lift into the air, fanning slowly.

And as it does, the Princess comes into view behind it. She's lying there, appearing to be unconscious, and within the plant's reach.

"PRINCESS!" Steiner shouts. The plant screeches loudly, and whips its vines at us, although we're well out of its reach.

"Steiner, shut up!" I hiss, keeping my eyes on the raged monster. "You're just gonna make it mad!" He clamps his mouth shut, but I know he won't stand there for much longer.

Ok, so how were we gonna do this? Just kill it, then get the Princess, or try to get her away from it while we fight, just in case it decided to eat her in the middle of the fight or it accidentally kills her in the struggle? Well, I know I might not be able to do a lot of damage. My weapons aren't very long range, but Steiner's sword can reach farther than me, and I'm sure that Vivi can cast magic at a distance.

Finally decided, I say, "Ok, here's what we're gonna do. You guys distract it while I try to get the Princess away from it. Better yet, try to kill it while you distract it."

And of course, Steiner has to stall with his stupid suspicions. "Hmph! And why should I trust you to get her away safely!?

I growl to myself, beginning to get impatient. If this guy wants to help her so bad, why can't he just stop wasting time!?

"Because you don't have any other choice right now!" I say, trying my best to keep the frustration out of my voice. "You guys can fight it better than I can, and I'm probably faster than both of you, so I can get in there and get her out!" Steiner is silent for a moment, and I think he might protest.

But I'm relieved as he says, "Fine."

"Good," I say. I absentmindedly twist my weapons, and say, "GO!"

Steiner runs up to the flailing monster with a war cry, and Vivi focuses a fire spell as I run to the left. Steiner's sword comes in contact with one of its tentacles, and it screeches angrily. It's followed up by a fire spell hitting it directly in the face. As it shrieks in protest, I take off in a fast run toward Garnet.

But _man_, that sucker can recover _fast._

It's already over the fire spell, and swinging its tentacles blindly. I duck as one comes at me, and I continue forward. It's temporarily distracted again as Vivi sends another flame at it, and Steiner slices its vine. It gives me enough time to get to Garnet.

I kneel next to her, and look at her. She looks like she's sleeping, but I can't tell if she's alive. I reach out and turn her head upwards. Her eyes scrunch a bit, and her mouth makes a small wincing motion, followed by a very weak groan. Good. She's alive.

Before I can pick her up and get away, I hear a massive, ear-piercing scream echo from the monster. I spin my body around, to find that the thing's ugly face is looking directly at me, obviously angered that I'm near its prey. It makes a gargling sound and, before I can react, it spits some of the oozing green liquid at me.

The only thing I have time to do is move my body in front of Garnet's and put my right arm over my face protectively. As soon as I do, I feel the fluid hit my arm. I feel an intense burn as soon as it makes contact.

"Aaaahh!" I scream, dropping my weapons and lowering my arm, shaking it in an attempt to rid myself of the liquid. The intensity of the heat burns through my skin, and it sends a shooting pain all through my arm. I desperately wipe it off with my other hand, then clutch it tightly, closing my eyes and stifling another scream. It hurts so much I can hardly think.

But after a few seconds, I force my eyes open. I wince as the pain assaults my arm, and I look at the battle in front of me. The monster is again facing the others, and they're still locked in a duel of steel, vines and magic. I can't tell if they've been injured, and I can't tell if any of their attempts have weakened the monster. But I try to focus my mind getting Garnet out of here. My arm is still burning, and I can feel my own blood dripping off of it along with the green fluid, but I try to block it out and do what I'm here to do.

But just before I can, I see a figure appear form the tunnel opening. It takes my mind a split second to process who it is.

Blank comes running in, sword drawn and eyes frantically scanning the battle. He stops, and his eyes fall onto me. Without a word, he points one finger to his right, then to his left. I nod, knowing exactly what he's saying.

Quickly, I put my weapons away, then I gently reach down and sling Garnet over my shoulder with one arm. I hold my injured arm close to my body, using what energy I can to ignore the seething burn that still remains. I jump up and, with a glance at the monster, I run to the right, back the way I came. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Blank run to his right.

We've done this maneuver before. One of us runs off to distract the enemy, then the other takes it by surprise and goes for the deathblow. But we've never done it with a monster this big. I just hope it works.

As I run, I cast a glance behind me. I see the monster face me, completely oblivious to Blank, who just ran behind it and out of my sight. I stop out of its reach, and it looks back at Steiner and Vivi, who continue to attack it.

Within the next three seconds, the loudest shriek yet erupts from the monster.

Steiner and Vivi stop their attacks and plug their ears, completely startled at the suddenness and volume of the screech. I want to plug my ears, but one of my arms is in too much pain to move and the other is balancing Garnet on my shoulder, so I have to close my eyes impulsively and hope I don't go deaf.

After a few seconds, the shriek lowers, then ceases. We all look up, and see it start to deflate, as if it had been full of air the whole time. A gray smoke shoots up from the ground around it, and it slowly shrinks to the ground. What's left after the smoke clears is nothing but a gaping hole where it used to be, and Blank standing just behind it, his sword in a downward position.

I heave a sigh. We did it.

Steiner immediately takes action, and sheaths his sword, running over to me.

"Princess!" he says, gently relieving me of the very light load. He cradles her in his arms and calls her again. I instinctively use my now free hand to cover up my bleeding injury.

"Is she ok?" Vivi asks as he approaches. He looks at me and his eyes wander to my arm. "Hey! Are you hurt!?"

"No, I'm fine," I lie. I don't want them to worry about me when Garnet needs help. I'll live, but she won't if we don't do something.

"He's lying, but I know why," Blank says as he reaches us. I ignore his comment and look at him. "The seed remover is in my pouch," I say. I don't want to get any of my blood or the green fluid on the pouch or the vile. He agrees without complaint, and opens the pouch, pulling out the container. He pops off the cork, and approaches Steiner. The Knight seems to know that this is the only thing that will help her, so he remains quiet as Blank tips her head back and pours the liquid into her mouth. She gives a choking cough, then takes in a deeper breath, her eyes remaining closed.

"How long will this take?" Steiner asks desperately.

"It's the same stuff I gave you," Black says as he pockets the empty vile, "So it'll take about as long as it did for you."

Steiner opens his mouth to say something, but whatever he was going to say is lost as we hear an echoing screech to the left.

You've _got _to be kidding.

As we all turn our heads toward the sound, a red, four-legged spider monster about the size of Steiner comes out of the hole. As soon as it clears the dark depths, it's followed by another.

"What's happening!?" Steiner demands, taking a step back as a third spider emerges from the hole. They cackle at us, almost like a clicking sound.

"Apparently it's the monster's back up army," Blank says, drawing his sword. He starts to run to the right, shouting, "Follow me!" We all follow him, deciding not to argue as two more monsters follow the first three.

Blank stops by another opening adjacent to the tunnel that we took to get here. He motions for us to go through, and I slow enough for Steiner, Garnet and Vivi to go first. I go after them, and Blank comes right after me.

We run as fast as we can down a trail that we have no idea where it leads. We're aware of the clicking of the monsters as they pursue us, and we don't care to stop and see how many there are now. Blank stays behind us, sword at the ready in case they catch up to us. I hate that I'll probably be useless if they overrun us, considering that the pain in my arm is preventing most of its movement. I just keep running, hoping that we can find some way out of here before they catch up.

We run for a few minutes, and I can't help but steal a glance behind me. My eyes bug out as I see countless spiders running at us, clicking loudly over each other. If that mob gets to us, we're dead.

I look back ahead, then look to the right as I hear another sound. I'm surprised to see more of the spiders running a little ways in the woods next to us. But they're not chasing us. They're running forward.

_What…?_ I think, puzzled. Why are they running forward, but not paying any attention to us? Aren't these things after us because we killed the giant plant?

But what I see next it the weirdest, and scariest thing yet. The trees behind the monsters turns a dark gray, and it travels up to the monsters. It engulfs each one like a wave, and they all turn the same gray color, freezing in their tracks.

The forest is petrifying.

This isn't good. This _really_ isn't good. I look at the monsters behind us again, and see that they realize how close the petrifaction is getting to them, and they start running faster, rapidly closing the distance between us.

If they get to us, they'll trap us and we'll get petrified just like the rest of the forest. We gotta stop them, or we're in trouble.

Wait… that's it. If they just trap something, they'll stop, and they won't reach the rest of us.

It's the only way to save them. And I know I have the power to do it.

Without a word, I abruptly stop, and turn to face the horde of monsters. They're reaching me fast, but I stand my ground. I'm doing it for the others. I know I can do it.

But when they're just seconds away from me, I feel something grab the back of my shirt and pull be back violently, sending me onto my backside. As soon as I regain my composure and look up, I'm in time to see the horde reach us, and one of the monsters wrap its pincers around Blank.

"Blank!" I shout, jumping to my feet. As I expected the monster that held Blank fell and all the ones behind it fall, stopping the pursuit. But the petrification is already taking over the ones right behind him.

"Get out of here! Now!" Blank screams, whipping his hand to his belt and pulling off a rolled piece of paper. He throws it above my head, and the gray wave reaches his legs.

Time suddenly slows as the wave travels up his legs and up to his middle. In the spilt second, we make eye contact, and his gaze is screaming at me to run. I don't want to. I can't leave him here.

But his eyes can't be ignored. I grind my teeth, then time speeds back up, and I turn and run.

I reach down and grab the paper he threw, and use my anger to carry my feet down the trail. The others are well ahead of me, very close to an opening in the trees. I can't get Blank's face out of my head, and his fate pulses through me angrily, making me run faster. I see giant vines flying past me and toward the opening, but they are ignored as I continue to run.

Before I know it, I've cleared the opening, not far from the others, and I fall to my hands and knees, panting heavily. I keep my eyes on the ground, and I can hear a creaking rush behind me, followed by what sounds like rushing leaves, and a low, long creak.

Then it goes silent.

Blank.

He saved us.

He knew what I was going to do, and he took the bullet for me. I can't believe it. That… that…

"Dammit Blank, you IDIOT!" I scream, clenching my fists. I jump to my feet and face the forest. The opening is completely sealed by barbed vines.

I run over, my mind blinded with anger and grief, and I pound the wall forcefully.

"YOU IDIOT! YOU STUPID IDIOT! I scream, venting my anger on the rock wall. I heave in air as I hit it. He's gone. Blank's gone. He saved us, and he's gone.

Finally, my legs give way beneath me, and I kneel in front of the wall, leaving my unmoving fists on it. I shut my eyes tightly and heave in a breath. I just can't accept it. I won't. My best friend isn't dead. He's just not.

Just then, I'm aware of soft footsteps behind me. I open my eyes, but I don't turn to look at whoever it is.

"Zidane…?"

It's Vivi.

"I'm fine," I say. "Just go help Steiner and Garnet." There's a short silence, then I hear him turn and walk away.

I close my eyes and take a deep, calming breath. I can't let myself do this. I have to take care of these guys. If I lose it, I'm not gonna be of any use to them. I gotta focus on who I can help. Blank wouldn't want me to act like this over him. He would want me to help the others.

_It can't be too late,_ I think, reassuring myself. _He's petrified… he's not dead. He can be helped._

With that in mind, I slowly get to my feet. I turn, and walk to the others, deciding to help who I can until I can help Blank.

- - - - - - - - - - -

_Ok, as a small note, I'm sure you're wondering why I didn't put trance in there, and here's why. In the game, Trance is a kind of overdrive, and doesn't really have anything to do with the plot other than Kuja's trance at the end of the game. I will keep Kuja's Trance, but I thought it would make things too difficult to have it with the other characters. Trance will have the same idea, but it will have a different history, which will be revealed later._

_Anyway, I can't tell you how much a review would be appreciated. Thanks._


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey there._

_Wow, if you have been reading this from the beginning and you're reading this chapter now, I want to thank you. I hope you enjoy it, and please read the author's note at the end. Thanks._

_And one small note: I've been wanting to think of a better name for this story, but so far I've had no luck. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know._

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

I don't know how much more of this I can take.

It's been about a half hour since we escaped Evil Forest. I managed to put up a tent while Vivi gathered some wood and started a fire with his magic. I waited till those things were done before I rinsed my injured forearm with water to remove any excess monster goo, and put a potion on it. Now, I'm wrapping it tightly with a white bandage.

And the whole time, I've had to listen to Steiner yell at me.

"If you hadn't kidnapped her, none of this would have happened!" he screamed. He stood close to the Princess, who was lying on a blanket next to the fire. The poison had been in her body longer than it had the others, so it had taken more of a toll on her. She was sleeping, and she looked like she'd be fine.

"Everything you did was reckless, stupid, pigheaded…" he kept shouting at me. Apparently, he thought it was my fault that we were here, that the Princess had been attacked, and that he didn't see any reason why he shouldn't kill me right now.

I wince inwardly after I finish the bandaging. Whatever that monster spit at me sure did a number on my arm. It still had a throbbing burn, and there was a raw spot about five inches long and three inches wide. I didn't know how long it would take to heal, but I hoped it wouldn't be too long. I wouldn't be able to fight very well with one arm.

"… no concern for the welfare of the Princess, and-"

"Steiner!!!" I finally yelled, lifting my fists frustratingly. He abruptly stopped. I took a breath and put my hands in front of me as if blocking anymore of his insults. "Just shut up, ok? Shut up."

His eyes flashed angrily. He waved a fist through the air, saying, "How dare you! What makes you think-"

"What makes _you _think you can blame all of this on me!?" I demand, lowering one of my hands and pointing at him with a finger from the other. I find it hard to keep the anger form resonating from my voice. Between what happened to Blank, wondering what we're going to do now, and the pain that still resonates in my arm, I _really_ don't need to hear his crap right now. "You're saying all of this is _my_ fault, but who was it that was willing to go after her, huh!? _You_ have a duty to her, but I don't! My Boss told me we weren't going to help her, so I left! I made the decision _on my own_ to help her! So tell me, how does that make all of this _my_ fault!?"

As I lower my hand, he goes silent. At first, I think he's going to retaliate, but he doesn't. I'm not sure why, but I hope it's because he finally decided to stop blaming me. Vivi, who had been sitting by the fire the whole time, shifts a bit uncomfortably.

Just then, we all turn our heads in unison as we hear a soft groan come from Garnet. She shifts a bit, then opens her eyes, blinking groggily at the fire in front of her.

"Princess!?" Steiner says desperately, immediately kneeling down next to her. Vivi gets to his feet and watches, seemingly very relieved to see that she's ok. I smile to myself. I'm glad she's ok too.

Garnet seems to be aware of Steiner, and she gently pushes herself into a sitting position with her legs lying next to her. She puts a hand on her head and closes her eyes.

"Princess, are you alright!?" Steiner asks, using a quieter tone this time. She removes her hand from her head and looks at him. She looks like she's going to say something, but she turns her head to look at her surroundings. Her gaze rests on Vivi for a moment, then she looks over at me. Her eyes look so tired, so confused.

"Hey," I say, approaching her. I ignore the glare Steiner gives me, and I stand a few feet away from her (to make sure there's a comfortable distance, and to make sure I stay out of Steiner's reach).

"How do you feel?" I ask. She takes her gaze off of me and looks at the fire.

"I'm alright," she says softly, seeming to be to tired to speak any louder. She silent for a minute, then says, "What happened?"

Unfortunately, Steiner jumps in before I can so much as open my mouth to explain.

"Thanks to this _thief_ and his band," he says angrily, drilling daggers into my eyes with his own furious ones, "We were stranded in the middle of the forest, and were attacked by a giant monster! If I hadn't been here, you would have fallen prey to it!"

I roll my eyes in spite of myself. "How many times do I have to tell you?" I ask with frustration. "This isn't my fault."

But Steiner keeps his stubborn streak. "_You _kidnapped her, so everything that's happened _is_ your fault!"

"Steiner," Garnet says quietly. He shuts his mouth right away and looks at her.

She pauses, then says, "It's not his fault. It's mine."

"But-"

"Steiner," she repeats, forestalling any of his comments. "I _asked_ him to kidnap me. If any of this is anyone's fault, it's mine."

Steiner stays silent. He looks surprised, but not as surprised as I thought he'd be. It's as if it was something that he expected. I had no idea why he would have expected something like that, but I guess it's not important right now. Although I'm glad that Steiner looks like he's gonna stop blaming me, I can't let her take all the heat (not that she's taken any heat, but you know what I mean).

"Well…" I start, making them all look at me. "I did agree to kidnap you Princess, but I was there to kidnap you anyway."

Steiner's eyes go wide and he points an accusing finger at me. "See!? He admits it!"

"Steiner, please…" Garnet says, looking way too tired to deal with any of this right now. Steiner once again puts his foot in his mouth, and lets her finish. "Although I don't know why the crew was going to kidnap me, I planned to have them take me anyway."

Steiner looks at me. "Then let's hear _why_ you were there to abduct her!"

"I don't know," I say honestly. "The Boss said that it was an important favor for an important friend, and that we didn't need to know any more than that."

Steiner didn't look very satisfied with that. "HA! You expect me to believe that!?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Believe what you want. It's the truth."

"Even if it is, why would you follow such an illegal crime!?"

"Trust me," I say, using a serious, and somewhat pained voice, "If you knew this guy, you'd know why." And he would. With Baku, it was '_Do what I say'_ or, '_Get the daylights beat out of you until you do._' We always just did what he said to save the beating. We'd have to do it anyway.

Steiner glares at me, then says, "Well, no matter, we will soon be rid of you. I am taking the Princess back to Alexandria as soon as possible."

"Oh really?" I say, finding that somewhat humorous. "And how do you plan to get there?"

"Through South Gate!" he says defensively. "And you'd better not follow us!"

"Uh huh," I say, acting as if I'm calculating that move. "North and South Gate are closed off. And even if they weren't, do you know how to get there?"

Steiner is silent for a moment, still glaring at me. I know he doesn't. I'm sure he's read some maps, but I bet he spent most of his time protecting the Alexandrian Royal family, and never got to travel or study maps.

But instead of admitting that he doesn't, he says, "Well, what difference does it make!? It's not as if _you _do!"

"Actually, I do," I say, ignoring the shocked glare he gives me. "I've done a lot of traveling, and I've studied a lot of maps, so I know this area pretty well. Plus, I have a map of the continent."

"Well," he says, starting to turn red from the anger. I think he's starting to realize that I have to go with them, and he's not happy about it, "Then… give me the map and we'll be off!"

"No, I don't think so," I say, finding a bit of enjoyment out of the frustration it's causing him. "Even if I did give it to you, I bet you wouldn't know where to go."

And finally, it looks as if I won. He opens his mouth to say something, but closes it right away. I can see how frustrated he is with his conclusion, but I guess he's decided to just do it.

"Fine, then it's settled," I say, not giving him a chance to say it (I don't think he would have anyway). "We'll leave tomorrow."

"And where to you plan to take us!?" he demands. Geez. Even though he looks like he's gonna accept that I have to go with them, he's not gonna make it easy, is he?

"I don't know yet," I say.

"Well, then let me make it easy for you," he says. "We are going back to Alexandria!"

"Steiner," Garnet says. "I do not intend to return to Alexandria."

Before Steiner can comment, Garnet sways a bit and looks like she's going to pass out. He turns his attention to her and says, "Princess, you need to rest." She doesn't say anything, but she seems too tired to protest. He helps her onto her feet and guides her to the tent. Just before they enter, Garnet's eyes and mine make contact. She almost looks like she wants to say something, but she doesn't. They both disappear inside for a moment, then Steiner emerges. He looks directly at me and says, "Don't go anywhere near her."

"Fine," I say. I expected that anyway.

"U-um," Vivi says, speaking for the first time since I got Steiner to stop yelling at me, "Where do I sleep?"

"In the tent," Steiner says, opening the flap for him. He glares at me and directs his words at Vivi. "I trust you, not _him_."

_Well, no one really does anyway,_ I think, but keep the comment to myself. Vivi goes inside the tent, and Steiner closes it, positioning himself next to it and watching me like a hawk. Great… so I'm gonna have this guy stare at me all night? Talk about invading personal bubbles. But I try not to let myself be bothered by it. I go over to the fire and sit down, acting like I don't know he's looking at me.

I lay on my side and support my head with my left arm, keeping my injured right arm close to my body. It still burns a bit, but I don't really notice because my mind is racing.

Things just happened so fast. After I messed up in the kidnapping, everything just got weird and felt like it went wrong. No… I can't keep blaming myself for that. It's not Garnet's fault either, even though she was the one who ran. I guess it doesn't matter. I can't dwell on what I could have done. I just have to focus on what I have to do now.

Starting to feel a little drowsy, I lay my head on the ground, watching the fire's flames lick the wood. Just exactly what are we gonna do tomorrow? If everything went as planned, I'd be back in Lindblum tonight. But is that where we were gonna go? Now that I think about it, is that where Garnet wanted to go? Is that why she wanted to be kidnapped? But why would she want to leave Alexandria? Maybe if I ask her, she'll tell me. I'm gonna have to anyway so I know where she wants to go. If she wanted to go to Lindblum, then that would simplify things a bit. The Boss did say that we were gonna take her there for a friend, and-

My stomach jolts.

I forgot about the Boss and the rest of Tantalus.

Did they get out of the forest before it got petrified?

That wasn't news that I needed to think about. Now it might not just be Blank who's in trouble. Now I have no idea if the others made it.

No… I can't worry about that. The Boss is sneaky. I'm sure they got out… I guess I'd just have to go to Lindblum and find out. Not that it would matter. I did leave the band…

He'd just tell me that it's not my concern. They're fine… they always manage to get out of this kind of thing. And there's no use in worrying about it until I know for sure. I'm just gonna have to check in Lindblum. If they got out, they'll go back there. Right now, I'll just help Garnet, and I can't figure out how to do that until I find out where she was gonna go and why. I just hope Steiner doesn't get mad. He's already set on taking her back to Alexandria, and he'll kill me if I try to do otherwise. But maybe Garnet's orders will have more power over his own decisions.

That would be a bummer. Always having to follow orders and never have any freedom. Well… I know what it's like to have to follow orders, but I definitely have more freedom than he does.

Whoa… I just let my mind wander into too many subjects. I hate it when I do that. I just have to rest right now and worry about all this tomorrow.

Finally feeling the exhaustion of the day's events take me, I close my eyes and get ready for sleep.

- - - - -

I was the first one to wake up the next morning. The fire was out, and it was a bit chilly. I got up and stretched, then restarted the fire with one of my matches (I still had the box in my pocket). Because of the odd grayness of the sky, I couldn't tell what time it was, but I knew it was pretty early morning. I decided to let everyone sleep, guessing that they were tired from the previous day, and they'd need to be ready for today. Even Steiner was asleep in the same place he was last night. I laughed silently. How could he sleep standing up? I took the moment to make a face at him, then walked over to the sealed off trail that we used to leave the forest.

I stared at the wall for a minute. I wondered how something like this could happen. I guess that the plant thing we killed was the forest keeper, and if he wasn't there, then the forest became unstable. But hey, that meant no more Evil Forest. Works for me.

But… what about Blank? If we did find a way to cure him, would the forest be restored? Would he want to come back if that was what it took? Well, I guess I'd just have to wait until we found out if something like that still existed. Until then, I decided it would be better not to worry about it.

Opening my pouch, I pulled out the piece of paper Blank gave me. I unrolled it, already knowing that it was a map of the Mist Continent. I'm not sure why he gave it to me, but I guess the Boss had something to do with it. He probably figured my stupidity would get me killed and sent Blank along to help me. I guess the big goon does care about me.

I looked at the map and checked our location. Evil Forest was in the middle of a valley, surrounded by tall cliffs. On the east cliff was Alexandria, and off to the west was South Gate. Since that was closed, I'd have to find a different way to get us out of here. Valleys were the areas the Mist was the thickest. And if you didn't know, Mist is the nasty stuff that permeates from who-knows-where, and spawns nasty monsters. Its only use is that it's used for powering airships. Not always safe, but effective.

I scanned the other areas of the map, and I caught sight of a cavern north of us. It was labeled 'Ice Cavern.' It showed it's entrance, and it's exit on top of the other cliff. Just past an open piece of land was a small village called 'Dali.' The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember if it was because I've seen it on another map, or if I've been there. I figured our best bet was to go there for starters. We'd be out of the wilderness, and maybe we would be able to find some kind of transportation there.

Just then, I look up and turn my head as I hear something. It's not very loud, but my ears don't miss much. As I look, I see Garnet approaching me. I roll up the map and put it away, then turn to face her.

"Hey," I say. She stops a few short feet away.

"Hello."

She looks a lot better than she did yesterday, but I ask, "How do you feel?"

"Good," she says. "I think the medicine has finally cured me."

"Good."

She shifts a bit, then says, "Did you sleep alright?"

"Yeah, just fine," I say. I haven't had to sleep on bare ground very often, but I guess it wasn't that bad.

She hesitates, then says, "I'm sorry that Steiner forbade you to sleep in the tent. I shouldn't have let him tell you what to do."

"Don't worry about it," I say honestly. "It was probably more comfortable for everyone."

There's a short silence, where we look at each other. Maybe this would be a good time to ask her about where she planned to go after we kidnapped her. But I don't think I should just ask her straight out. I don't think I've even introduced myself to her this entire time. Although, she probably already knows my name, thanks to the Boss. Heck, he screamed it so loud during the play that all of Alexandria probably knows it. But I don't want to assume, so I'll just be polite.

"Uh, by the way, I'm Zidane," I say. Hoping that she doesn't think it rude for me to address her like that, I offer a hand for her to shake.

But she doesn't seem to mind one bit. She takes my hand and gently shakes it.

"Nice to meet you. You may call me Garnet."

"Are you sure?" I ask, trying to use a comical tone. "I think Steiner would have my head if I didn't call you Princess."

She chuckles a bit. Wow, that's a beautiful sound…

"I believe it is up to me, not Steiner," she says with a small smile. I smile in return.

Wow. I didn't expect it to be so easy to talk to her. I mean, she's a Princess, and I'm just a common thief. Usually, royalty or knights treat me like dirt, but she's treating me like an equal. I never would have expected that.

As our hands are still touching, her eyes wander to my outstretched arm, and her face turns to a frown. I look down. She's eyeing my bloodied bandage.

"Oh, are you injured?" she asks. I'm surprised to hear how much concern is in her voice. I release her hand and say, "No, it's nothing to worry about. I've had worse."

But she surprises me by hesitantly approaching me and looking at my arm. She looks at me and says, "Do you mind if I have a look?"

This surprises me. Why would she want to see it?

"Uh… no," I say honestly. "But I don't think you want to." I put a sarcastic tone in my voice. "It's pretty gruesome."

She chuckles silently. "It's alright. I've seen a few injuries."

I blink in puzzlement. Oh well, I guess it can't hurt. I use my left hand to carefully unwrap the bandage, and reveal the injury. It doesn't look much better than it did yesterday. It's still raw, although it stopped bleeding.

She reaches out and gently takes my hand, lifting my arm so she can see it. Her eyes show a sympathetic wince.

"How did this happen?" she asks.

I shrug. "Just a souvenir from the big plant guy we fought to help you. He had some kind of acid goo, and I got in his way." Well, I got in his way on purpose so he wouldn't hurt her, but I decide to leave that detail out.

She nods, then releases my hand. She removes one of her gloves, then places her bare palm over my arm, and holds my arm still with the other. Her face takes on a concentrating look, and her hand glows.

I watch with surprise. She can use White Magic.

She holds her position, and my injury starts to heal. The skin starts to repair, and the burn fades.

After a few seconds, she releases the magic, and releases my arm. It looks like it would after a week of healing. The burn is gone, and it's no longer raw. It's still slightly open, but most of it is repaired.

I flex my hand experimentally, then look up at her. She's got her hand on her head, and she's panting slightly.

"Hey," I ask with concern. "Are you ok?"

She nods slightly. "Yes." She removes her hand from her head and looks at me. She looks tired again. "I can use White Magic, but whatever power I use to heal an injury is taken from my own energy."

That's right… I've heard of that. White Magic is used to heal, but you have to be careful. Not many people can use White Magic, but the ones who can have to know their limits well. If they're healing a large injury, they have to make sure they have enough energy for it, or they end up tired for days. I guess she's not very experienced with White Magic since she looks pretty drained after partially healing my arm. I hope she didn't over do it.

"You didn't have to do that," I say, but not sounding as if I didn't appreciate it. "It would have healed on its own."

"I know," she says, seeming to have caught her breath, "But I wanted to. Just… consider it my thanks for what you've done for me."

I blink. Wow… she's cool.

I smile. "Thanks."

She nods. "Of course."

I didn't expect her to be like this. I figured she'd be one of those snotty princesses that knows they're beautiful and royal and likes to rub it in people's faces. But she was different. Just by looking at her, you wouldn't guess she was a Princess. Actually, the only thing giving her away is how beautiful she is…

"Zidane?"

I blink. "What?"

"Is something wrong?"

"Uh…" Oh geez, I got lost in thought again, and I was probably staring at her. Idiot.

"No," I answer. "Actually," I start, deciding to use my originally planned question as a save, "I was hoping that you would tell me why you ran away."

She looks a little cornered as I ask this. I hope I didn't get into something personal.

"I mean," I say, hoping that an explanation will make her understand that I'm not trying to be nosy, "It's not like I'm gonna try to stop you. I just need to know where you planned on going so I can plan our next move."

She looks a little less nervous, then says, "You mean, you will help me get where I need to go?"

"Yeah," I answer without hesitation. "I mean, I was supposed to abduct you for my Boss, and he didn't tell us why we were doing it. And since he's not here right now, I'm gonna make it my own responsibility." My stomach clenches slightly as I remind myself that I don't know if anyone made it out of the forest, but I push the thought aside and wait for Garnet's answer.

"So…" she starts, seeming to be surprised at my words, "Although you do not know me, and you do not know why I have run away from Alexandria, you will help me?"

I nod. "Yeah."

She remains quiet for a moment, as if she is trying to decide why I would do something like that. But she seems to have accepted it, and says, "I cannot tell you why I am leaving… but I will tell you that I planned to have the ship's crew kidnap me so I would be taken to Lindblum."

"Ok," I say, as if it's no problem, "That's obviously where we were heading anyway." I glance past her, and see Vivi exiting the tent. "When all of us are ready, we'll head to Lindblum."

"Thank you," she says with a small smile.

"No problem," I say sincerely.

After we head back to camp, Vivi was there waiting for us (and I can't resist the chance to slap the back of Steiner's head to wake him up. He woke with a start and looked around, but I had already gone off, and looked as if I wasn't anywhere near him. I thought it might make Garnet mad, but she didn't seem to mind. Maybe she considered it my 'revenge' for the way he was treating me). When we sat down to eat and I explained that there was a Cavern that would lead us to a small village that might have transportation to take us to Lindblum, Steiner demanded to know why I thought that he would let me do that. But Garnet told him to be quiet, and told him it was because it was where she needed to go. She even said that although she appreciated his loyalty, he didn't have to come with us if he didn't want to accept it. But he insisted that he would accompany us because 'It was his duty to protect her at all costs, and that he didn't trust the treacherous monkey.' I ignored the comment, and we left it at that.

After we packed everything (Garnet and Vivi thought my pouch was pretty cool and helpful) we headed out into the valley.

It took us half the day to cross it. We stopped once to eat, and kept going until we reached the cavern. We were lucky enough not to run into any monsters. The only thing that I had to watch out for was Steiner's eyes constantly watching my every move. I haven't done anything but help, so why can't this guy just get off my back?

Finally, the Ice Cavern came into view. The entrance wasn't very wide, but it looked like it was as tall as the cliff. A chilly air wafted toward us, and I knew it would just get colder when we went inside. Hopefully, it would only take a couple of hours at the most to get to the exit.

"Well, here we are," I say as we stop to admire the ice grotto before us. I turn to look at them all, and say, "It's gonna be really cold in there, and it'll probably take us a couple of hours to get through the whole thing, so be prepared for a chilly time." They all agree (Steiner does with a rude smirk, which I ignore), and we head inside.

As expected, the temperature feels like it dropped ten degrees as soon as we clear the entrance. But I have to admit, the inside is so beautiful that it makes up for it.

As the name implies, the entire thing is made of ice. The walls, the ceiling, the floor, everything. It looks like a polished, indigo sculpture. The area we're in now had a hundred foot tall ceiling, and lead into a smaller corridor. It's the only one in sight, so that's where we're gonna go.

We walk for about an hour, and everybody's cold. Even Steiner is under that tin suit. But the constant walking is what's keeping us from freezing, so we don't complain. So far, the path has been pretty straight. We followed a few corridors, and when there was more than one path, we either chose the right one, or found that one was a dead end, letting us know that the other was the right way. It didn't happen often, so we were making pretty good time. Talk has been somewhat sparse, but a small conversation about the cavern was started a few minutes ago.

"I've only read about this place," Garnet said as we walked down another hallway. She looks at one of the walls. It seems like she didn't tire of it, no matter how long we were in there. "But actually seeing it is better than any book could describe."

"I haven't seen it either," Vivi said. "My grandpa used to tell me about it, but I never knew where it was."

"Oh, you have family?" Steiner chimed in. "He must be worried about you."

Vivi looked down. "Well… no. He died a little while ago."

Steiner's metal footsteps stop, and he clears his throat nervously. We stop and look at him. He gives Vivi an apologetic look. "I am sorry Master Vivi, I shouldn't have-"

"It's ok," Vivi insisted. He looked up at him and said, "Don't worry about it. I've gotten over it."

Steiner was about to say something, but my ears pick up a small shuffle through the silence.

"Sshhh!" I hiss, turning my head and looking at the corridor around the corner. I hear the shuffle again, and a small growl.

"Zidane, what-"

"Be quiet, and get over here," I say quietly, forestalling Garnet's question. I rush over to the wall that connects the passway we're standing in, and the one around the corner where the sound is coming from. I stand right next to the edge, and press my back against it. They all follow.

Ok, there's something over there, and I don't know what it is. We haven't run into any monsters yet, and I don't know anything about the kinds that might live here. I take a small breath, then peek my head around the corner.

About three yards down the hall is a dark green, four-legged monster. It's facing the wall opposite us, so I can't really see its face. All I can see is that it's about as tall as me, and has two really long tusks sticking from somewhere on it's face.

Slowly, I draw my daggers, and hold them at the ready. I hear Steiner's hand go for his sword, and he says, "What is going-"

"Steiner, shut up," I say quietly. If he doesn't keep his mouth shut, that thing is gonna know we're here.

But I think it already does.

It must have heard the echo of his voice, because it turns, and I see a flat face with drawn eyes look toward us. It starts to sniff the air, sounding as if it's snoring, and the sound is carried loudly down the corridor. I feel Garnet slightly jump next to me, but luckily she stays quiet.

"What was that!?" Steiner demands, drawing his sword. The monster jerks its head toward us, and starts walking to the hall opening.

I pull my head back and rest it against the icy wall. "Steiner, just _shut up_!" I say again. "There's a monster down there, and it's gonna know we're here if you don't be quiet!" I hear him grumble something, but he keeps quiet.

I take a calming breath, trying to ignore the ice that's numbing the back of my arms. I peek my head for another look, and my eyes widen as I see that the thing is just five feet away, sniffing the air more vigorously.

I bring my head back, and look at the others. They all look at me, Garnet and Vivi looking very frightened, and I say, "Ok, I think I can take care of it. Just stay right here, and don't move ok?" Garnet and Vivi nod and, after a bit of reluctance, so does Steiner.

I nod, and turn my attention back to the monster. If I time this right, then I can knock this thing off without so much as a fight. I just hope it works.

I peer around the corner again, and now the monster is practically right there, still inhaling the new scent. It must be pretty stupid if it doesn't know we're right here. But that helps the plan a bit.

I stick my head out farther, and make eye contact with it.

And the next span of events happens within seconds.

The thing now knows that something is there, and it gives an odd, gurgling roar, then leaps toward me, and the opening. I jump into the opening at the ready, daggers raised for the leaping monster. In the same second that it comes just in front of me, I slice my weapons across it's face in an X motion, and leave deep, bloodied gashes between its eyes and mouth. It roars momentarily, then falls to the ground, and gasps its last breath.

I stand in the same position, panting slightly from the short adrenaline rush. That was easy.

"Wow," I hear Vivi say with a winded and impressed tone. I get out of my stance and look at them.

"Well, that was easy," I say, wiping my daggers on the monster's hide.

"Are you alright?" Garnet asks. She looks kind of winded, and her hand is over her chest as if something suddenly scared her.

"Yeah," I say, sheathing my clean weapons. "He didn't get anywhere near me." I eye the monster, watching some of its crimson blood start to stain the clear ice, then say, "Well, let's just be glad that this monster was kind of stupid, and that it's the only one we've seen so far." Vivi nods, and Garnets put her hand to her side, seeming to have partially gotten over the scare. Steiner looks at me impassively, then sheathes his sword. Hopefully, this will make him trust me a little more.

"Ok, we need to keep going," I say. Vivi and Garnet agree, and follow me when I walk around the monster and start down the corridor. Steiner stays still for a moment, then follows us.

After a minute, Garnet fell into step next to me. She looks at me, most of her fear seeming to be gone, and asks, "How did you know it was there?"

"I heard it," I answer. "I've had some training in that area. You know, like tracking and paying attention to my surroundings. It's not like I hear everything, but I don't miss a lot when it's important." She ponders it for a second, then looks ahead. She seemed a little bit impressed with it.

The next hour isn't as exciting as the first. For a little while, we talked about the fight. Vivi asked me how I learned to track, and I just told him that I trained for years to pick up the skills. Other than that, everybody kept to their own thoughts.

And now, it seems like it's even colder than it was before.

And a lot windier.

As the second hour is almost up, a blistering wind suddenly starts blowing against our pace. As if it wasn't already cold enough, this is making us all feel like no amount of walking is going to keep us warm at all. It's _freezing._ Where the heck did this wind come from? Are we close to the exit, and there's a storm outside? I don't know if I've been to the area that we're heading to, but there's no way its winter there.

By now, we're all hugging ourselves, trying desperately to keep warm. It got so bad that I pulled out blankets and handed them out to everyone. But they don't seem to be helping much. I can't see any sufficient shelter anywhere, so we can't stop. Even if we did, I don't think it's a good idea to stay in here any longer than we have to. We have to get out of here.

My whole body is shivering, and I can't stop my teeth from chattering. I glance at the others, and they don't look any better. Steiner looks as if his suit has frozen and is forcing him to walk with stiff movements. Vivi's starting to fall behind, and he's visibly shaking. Garnet looks so cold that I think she might pass out. We have to get out of here.

Before I can turn my head back to the path ahead, I see Vivi start to waver. He stops walking, then falls onto his face.

"Vivi!" I call over the gusting wind. As I call him, Steiner and Garnet turn to look. The first one to react is Steiner.

"Master Vivi!" he says, waddling over to him. He somehow manages to make his legs bend, and kneels down. "Master Vivi, are you alright!?" Vivi doesn't answer.

Steiner looks like he wants to call him again, but he tries to adjust his leg at the same time, and loses his balance. He manages to fall onto his side with a metallic 'thunk' next to Vivi.

_Crap_, I think, starting to worry. This isn't good. They might be freezing to death. I turn and walk over to them, stopping by Steiner.

"Hey, Steiner!" I call. He looks unconscious, as does Vivi. I want to try to wake him, but I'd rather be cautious. I poke his side with a toe. Nothing.

This really isn't good. If they don't get out of this cold, they're gonna freeze to death. But how am I supposed to get them out of here? I can carry Vivi, but what about Steiner? Even though he's been a big jerk to me and doesn't have the slightest care about me, I can't leave him here. I just can't.

I turn around to see if Garnet has any ideas, but that's not gonna work.

Now she's on the ground unconscious too.

_Oh come on!_ I think desperately, rushing over to her. I kneel down and put a hand on her shoulder. Even through my glove, she feels like ice.

What am I supposed to do now? They're all out cold (literally) and they're going to freeze to death if I don't get them out of here. But how am I supposed to do that!?

Just then, I hear a strange sound carry over the wind. At first, I think it's playing tricks on my frozen ears, but then I hear it again. It almost sounds like a bell.

I turn my head in the direction of the wind, where the sound is coming from. The path goes a little farther, then it turns to the right. Whatever it is, it must be coming from there.

Well, I don't know what else to do. Maybe, this sound has something to do with the wind. I don't know why I think that might be possible, but I don't have any other option.

Taking one more look at Garnet and the others, I get up and head for the sound, hoping that it will be something helpful.

After I turn the corner, a large ice room comes into view. I can't tell much about it because the wind is so strong. I scan it, trying to see if I can find the source of the noise.

And what I see is just completely unexpected.

Through the wind, I see what looks like a Black Mage with wings. It's a lot bigger than Vivi, maybe about as tall as me, and it's got something in its hand. It moves it, and I hear the bell again.

So, we've got something that looks like a Black Mage, ringing a bell, and is in the middle of a storm that is almost killing everybody. Well, if that doesn't say 'guilty' to me, I don't know what does.

Just then, my eyes widen as its stops ringing its bell, and its yellow eyes turn towards me. I freeze (no pun intended) and stare at it. It turns to face me.

"Why aren't you asleep?" it says. Its voice is scratchy and deep, enough to make your hair stand on end.

I release the blanket that hangs over my shoulders, and reach for my daggers as it falls to the ground. "What are you talking about? You're the one causing this storm, aren't you?" The thing chuckles grittily, making me wince as the sound scrapes against my ears.

"It is no concern of yours," it says. It takes a step forward. "Because you have not fallen asleep like the rest of them, I shall take care of you myself." It lifts its hands, and a cerulean glow forms in front of them.

I rip out my weapons, and duck for cover.

The monster shoots a large ice shard toward me, and I manage to roll out of the way just before it impales my side. I right myself quickly, and dive behind a frozen boulder just as another one whistles past my ear.

I crouch and press my back against the cold rock. I hear another ice shard shatter behind me, and the pieces fly over the rock and land in front of me. What the heck is this thing!? It's nuts! And why did it send this blizzard on us? What does it want? And how the heck am I supposed to fight it with deadly icicles trying to turn me into a pincushion?

Well, I doubt the thing is gonna wait much longer before it comes over here. I gotta think of something. I look around for an option. All I see is a crevice in the wall that I can hide in, but how much longer can I hide?

Wait… that's it!

I peer over the boulder to check the monster's location. It sees me, and shoots another ice shard. I duck quickly, letting it fly over my head. I managed to see that the monster was closer to me than it was before.

Getting on to my stomach, I crawl along the boulder, then get to the wall. I edge around the small corner, then pull myself into the crevice, that is just barely big enough for me to fit in. I must have stayed well hidden, because I can see the monster from here, and he's still staring at the boulder, edging closer to it. I stay still, not wanting to give away my position.

After a minute, it reached the boulder. It paused, then leapt over it, landing behind it and spinning to face where I was hiding before, its back now facing me. It lowered its prepared hands, and stared in puzzlement.

I took the moment for a surprise attack.

It took about one more second than I intended to free myself of the tiny hiding place, and by the time I got out, the thing heard me and started turning around. I leapt forward with my daggers at the ready, hoping that I could get in the attack before he did.

In the same second that we made eye contact, he lifted his hands and started brewing a new ice shard, and I twisted my daggers in my hands so that they both faced him. Just as he prepared to shoot, I shoved my weapons into his stomach.

Its eyes bugged out and it gasped, the blue ice fading into nothingness. It looks down at its stomach, then looks back at me. It takes in a gasping breath, then falls backwards, my weapons sliding back out as it hits the ground.

Before I do anything else, the blizzard around me abruptly stops. The air is completely still, and the temperature goes back up instantaneously. It's not hot of course, but compared to before, it's a welcome change.

Just after the Cavern regained it's normal climate, a strange smoke covered the monster. It wafted around it a bit, then it disappeared. No sign of it, not even blood remained.

That… was weird. That wasn't just a monster. It knew we were here, and it tried to kill us. But why? How did it know who we were, and how did it know where we were?

Well, I'm not sure what it was all about, but I better not tell the others. They'll probably freak out, and I can't tell them why this thing was even-

Shoot! The others!

Just before I head back, I rip a bandage put of my pouch and clean my daggers. If I show up with bloody daggers, they're gonna know that something happened. I put the bandage back, put my weapons away, grab the blanket I was wearing and rush back to them.

When I get there, they're still lying on the ground. I reach Garnet first, so I kneel down and shake her.

"Hey, Garnet!" I say. I'm glad to see that it doesn't take any more coaxing than that before she opens her eyes. She blinks a few times, then looks at me.

"What…?" she starts. She glances around, and I release her shoulder as she sits up. She instinctively wraps her blanket tightly around her shoulders and looks at me. "What happened?"

"Uh…" Well, that's not a good way to start. If I don't wanna tell them about the monster, I can't be this stupid.

"You guys all passed out, then the storm stopped. I don't know why it did, but I've been trying to wake you." I've lied before, but I hate doing it. But I guess it was necessary.

"Oh…" is all she manages to say. She turns to look at the others. "They haven't woken yet?"

"No. I'll go do that now." As I get up and approach Vivi, Garnet follows and goes to Steiner. We both manage to get them to wake.

After Vivi gets onto his feet, he asks, "What happened?" Steiner looks groggy as he stands, but he doesn't say anything. I repeat to them what I told Garnet.

"But, that doesn't make any sense," Vivi said.

"I know," I agree. I hope they'll believe me. Then again, I bet Steiner won't.

"Preposterous!"

Shock.

I guess it doesn't matter though. If I said there was a monster, he wouldn't believe me anyway. There was no body, and that just makes it worse. So, it's probably better to just not tell them so I can save a more complicated reason for Steiner not to believe me, and save some worry since I don't have any idea why that thing was here.

"Look, I really don't want to do this right now." I say. "Can you just not get in my face for once so we can get out of here?" I know he still doesn't believe me, but he shuts up. He obviously wants to get out of here more than he wants to yell at me. So, we all agree and head for the next room.

As we enter it, it makes me feel weird. I just fought a monster that looks like a Black Mage here, and I told them nothing happened. If Steiner ever finds out about it, he'll use that one lie to say that I've lied about everything. And, I start to worry about why the monster was even there. It made it sound as if it was specifically there for us, although I never got a straight answer. Hopefully, it was something that was taken care of and we didn't need to worry about it since it was dead.

As we climb a slope, it seems like everyone's noticed that the temperature had gone back up, and I put the blankets away. The exit is in view just ahead, and we know it will be warm once we get out.

And finally, we do.

The sun beats down on us as we leave the Ice Cavern. We all welcome the warmth gratefully. We're now standing on a really tall hill, and the plains that connect the cavern and the village stretches vastly before us. Dali is visible far ahead. Actually, the plains look a little familiar. I remember the name of the village sounding familiar when I was looking at the map, and now I think I remember. I was there once with the guys once doing a little exploring when we were on one of the Boss's 'missions.' It was just a little farm town, pretty isolated by the mountains.

"There's the village," I say, pointing in its direction. They all look.

"How long do you think it will take to get there?" Vivi asks.

"If we don't stop, we can get there before dark," I say. "I've been there once, but I don't remember a lot about it. We'll have to see if they have some kind of transportation method that we can use."

"But first," I say, turning to Garnet, "We gotta take care of something else first." She looks at me quizzically.

"Now that we're going to be around witnesses, you're gonna have to start finding ways to disguise yourself."

"Why?" she asks, not seeming to understand exactly what I mean.

"Well, you ran away from Alexandria, so people are gonna be looking for you, right? If anyone knows you're the Princess, they'll alert the castle and they'll catch you. Even a small town like Dali will be able to get word to Alexandria."

Garnet seems to be taking this better than I thought. She doesn't protest, and instead asks, "Do I need to change the way I look?"

"No, I don't think so," I say. "You're clothes are fine, and no one knows what you look like. But they'll know your name, so you'll need a new one."

Just before she can respond, I hear a huge metal thud next to me, and I instinctively go for action. My right hand whips to my dagger, and I pull it out and turn to face Steiner. In the same second, he smacks it out of my hand, sending it to the left, and wraps his metal hand around my throat.

"You insolent commoner!" he says angrily, shutting off the air from my windpipe. "How dare you tell the princess to sneak around like a common criminal!" Geez! This guy is really taking this too far!

"Hey!" Vivi shouts, clearly sounding panicked.

"Steiner, let him go!" Garnet demands. He glares at me, then releases me. I take a deep breath, but that's all I need. He didn't have me long enough to choke me.

But Steiner shows no remorse for what he did, and turns to her, saying desperately, "Princess, you need not sneak around like he says! There is no need to do any of it because you will be back to the castle soon enough!"

"I have already told you," she says, "I am not going back to the castle. Not until I get to Lindblum." He stays quiet, seeming to be reminding himself that he can't undermine her authority. I guess he really is loyal.

She looks away from him, and looks to the ground as if something caught her eye. She bends down to pick it up and I look to see what it is. She stands back up with my dagger in her hand.

I let her turn it over and look at it. She looks at me and says, "What is this?"

"A dagger," I say simply. "Why?" She looks back down at it, and looks like she's considering something. She looks back at me and says, "Would that be a suitable name?"

I'm a little confused. "Would what be a suitable name?"

"Dagger."

I blink. Now that's a good idea. She's really smart if she's able to think of one so quickly, and a good one too. If she wants to be named after my weapon of choice, that's all good with me.

I nod. "Yeah, that sounds like a great name," I say honestly. She smiles a bit, and says, "Then Dagger it is."

Dagger approaches me and hands me my weapon. I take it and put it away.

"So, Dagger," I say, experimenting with the new name. It sounds cool. "There's one more thing we need to work on.

"What?"

"You look like a commoner and have a different name, but your speech is still too noble. You gotta try to change it."

She blinks. "How?"

I glance at Steiner out of the corner of my eye, then say, "Well…" I actually don't really know. It's not like we have time to give her lessons or something. "Just try to learn by osmosis. You've heard me and Vivi talk, so try to use that."

"Alri-" She stops. She thinks for a second, as if trying to think about when we talk, and says, "Ok."

I smile. "Perfect. You'll learn in no time." She smiles back.

"Well, we better go," I say. They all agree, and we head down the slope.

Again, we don't do a lot of talking during the walk, and I'm glad. I really don't want Steiner to try and ask me more about the Ice Cavern and make me have to lie again. And I'm really trying to be more cautious around him since I know he would have killed me back there if Dagger didn't stop him. This guy really is getting dangerous. But one good thing is that everybody seems to be ok. I was afraid that everyone would end up getting sick from being in such a cold climate for so long, but they were all fine. One less thing to worry about.

Just before the sun gets ready to set, we finally make it to Dali.

As we enter, I start to recognize it. Just as I remembered, it's small, not many houses, and a small Inn close to the entrance. There's a couple of kids running around, but other than that there's no one in sight. Even though sunset has barely started, I lead everyone to the Inn. The day was really long, and we were all exhausted.

When we get inside, I talk to the innkeeper, and pay him what he asked (I then transfer my money from my pocket to my pouch. It'll be safer in there). But what I noticed is that he kept glancing past me, then quickly turning his attention back to me as if he wanted to hide the fact that he had been glancing at all. I stole a quick glance over my shoulder to the direction he was staring. I guess he was looking at Dagger. I hope he didn't recognize her… Yeah right. No one except the Alexandrians know what she looks like. He probably just thought she was really pretty. I don't blame the guy. It's rude to stare at her like that, but she _is_ beautiful.

After leading them into the Inn's only room, I shut the door. I turn to check it out, and it looks nice enough. It's a pretty spacious square room, and there's four beds each placed in one of the four corners of the room. Pretty convenient. At least I didn't have to worry about sleeping on the floor for lack of beds.

"Ok, let's get some rest," I say. Vivi's already plopped onto the bed closest the door as I say, "We'll try to figure out what to do tomorrow."

Dagger chooses the bed in the top right corner of the room. She sits down and says, "Do you think there is transportation available here?"

I stand in the middle of the room and face her, folding my arms thoughtfully. "Well, since it's such a small town, I doubt they have anything big, but I guess we'll find out tomorrow. If there's nothing, I'll just try to map out a way to get there on foot." Although I said it, I doubted that it would be easy. North and South Gate were the main connections between certain towns that cab drivers and travelers used. But North Gate was closed due to a massive increase in monster sightings, and they thought it better to keep people from traveling on foot in such dangerous areas. They wouldn't reopen it until more of the monsters were killed off. But I didn't know exactly why South Gate was closed. But I guess it didn't matter. The point was, they were closed, and it would make traveling a lot harder, and probably longer. So, I just hoped that there would be some form of aerial traveling available to us here.

But Steiner seemed like he just had to look at all the negatives, especially if it meant pointing fingers at me.

"And if there is no transportation available, what will you have us do!?" he demanded. I sighed silently, and turned to face him, unfolding my arms. "You said yourself that North and South Gate were closed off, and traveling is nearly impossible without them!"

"You know, Steiner," I say, trying to sound casual, "You really need to lighten up." He gives me a shocked and clueless look, but I continue, "You just gotta believe that we'll find a way to get where we need to go, no matter what the circumstances are."

Steiner frowns, and says, "Hmph! The only circumstances that I do not approve of are that I am allowing the Princess to be taken to Lindblum when she should be going back to Alexandria, and that I must travel with a common thief!"

Before I knew what I was doing, I said, "Did you ever think that maybe I don't like being a thief!?" His glare faded, and he looked at me aghast.

My mouth clamps shut right away. I glance at Dagger, and she's looking at me with a slightly unreadable look. She looks a bit surprised, and possibly a little confused.

Why did I even do that? It just felt like something that I couldn't hold back. It was really something that I kept to myself, and I had for as long as I could remember. I had been raised as a thief, but I never liked it. I would just do it because of the Boss's whole 'Do it or get a beating' rule. And I had been with him for as long as I could remember, so I couldn't just leave. I didn't have anyone else. Sure, as I got older, I would 'leave' the band because I was mad about something, but I would always come back. But I only did because the guys at Tantalus were the only family I ever remember having. I couldn't live alone. I just couldn't.

But it was weird that I had just blurted it like that. I guess that having someone constantly remind me that I was a thief and that it was wrong pushed a few buttons.

I put on my usual composure, and acted as if I hadn't said anything. I waved a hand and said, "Never mind. Just get some rest, Rusty." I turn and head for the bed opposite Dagger's.

"R…RUSTY!?!?" I hear Steiner explode behind me. I ignore him and plop onto the bed, facing the wall so my back is to everyone. Maybe he'll just be angry about the new nickname (that I've been wanting to use, but decided it was too dangerous until now) and forget what I said. I doubt that knowing I didn't like being a thief would phase his opinion about me at all, so I didn't care. I'd just let him throw a tantrum about his new name (which I figured would be fun to use from now on), and try to get some rest. I heard Steiner approach me, saying something else, but I heard Dagger tell him to leave me alone, so he did. _Thanks Dagger_, I think, closing my eyes.

_For a Princess, you sure are human._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_I just wanted to give a REALLY big thanks to anyone who has been reading this story. I think I've noticed that re-writes of games aren't very popular, and I guess I can't blame anyone who thinks that they're a waste of time. But I'm not just writing the game; it is a real re-write that is going to have a few plot changes, and obviously (although they have been kept pretty much the same) the characters personalities might be altered a bit._

_And I hope no one was disappointed about the Black Waltz fight. I originally planned to put the Sealion in there, but it would have made what I did afterward a little more complicated, so I left it out. Hope it wasn't a big deal._

_Anyway, if anyone is reading this, they are enjoying it, they plan to read the whole thing, and they leave a review, I can't thank you enough._


	5. Chapter 5

_"But, I don't want to…"_

_"Just do it!" he demanded._

_"But…" the small boy said, on the verge of tears, "My mommy and daddy said that stealing is bad…" He looked away from the potion that sat on the store shelf, feeling his gut clench with guilt._

_The big man behind him slapped the back of the boy's head. "If 'ya don't do it, I'm gonna have to teach 'ya another lesson! Is that what 'ya want!?"_

_The boy clutched the back of his head, letting the tears of fear and pain fall down his cheeks. "No…" he sniffed._

_"Then grab it! This is 'yer training!"_

_The boy's conscience told him to refuse, but his fear told him to give in. If this was what his Boss wanted, he had to. If he didn't, he'd get another beating, and he might even drop him off somewhere and never come back. Then what would he have left?_

_With his gut piercing with the sense of wrong, the boy snatched the potion from the shelf._

_Suddenly, the images in front of him washed away as a beautiful sound filled his senses. At first, he didn't know what it was as it got a bit louder and rang through his ears._

_Then, a beautiful voice sang in his mind, and soothed his nightmare._

- - - - -

I opened my eyes groggily. I blinked to clear my blurry vision, and I saw a wall in front of me. It took me a second to realize that it was one of the walls in the Dali Inn.

I sat up and stretched my arms, stifling a yawn. I opened my eyes and looked around. The room was plastered with the sun's morning light that strayed in from the window. All the beds except for mine were empty.

_Where did everybody go?_ I thought, jumping out of bed. I looked around again. They weren't anywhere in the room.

_I hope they didn't leave the village,_ I think, wondering where they were. It surprised me a bit that they would just leave like that.

I folded my arms as I remembered the dream I had. I've had it before. It's not something I know as a waking memory, but it (along with a few others) come to me in my dreams. It always made me feel weird, and raised a few questions. Apparently, that was when Baku first found me (according to him, he said that the only things I was able to tell him was my age, my name and my birthday. I was only four.) and he was teaching me to steal. I guess that my little outburst yesterday left me thinking about it and I had the dream. But it always made me wonder; if I remembered my parents then, why can't I remember them now? How did I even end up being separated from them? Baku said that he found me on the outskirts of Lindblum, but he didn't say that I knew how I got there. It always made me question how it all happened, and where they were. Where did I come from? Were they still alive? Did they have tails too? I've never seen another tailed person besides myself, so that was another question. No one knew the name of my 'race' and no one had ever seen another person like me. I wondered if there was a town somewhere in a different part of the world where more people like me lived. But over the years, I just stopped thinking about it. I wouldn't really know how to get to other continents, and even if I did, I wouldn't have any idea where to look.

But another thing that was bothering me was how my dream ended. I've had dreams like that before, but I've never heard any singing. And as I thought back, I realized that the voice was familiar…

Of course.

It was Dagger. So I guess she was up last night, and her singing brought me out of my nightmare. Wow. I wish I could thank her for that. But then I'd have to explain that I was dreaming. I didn't really want to go there.

But then again, why was she awake? And why was she singing? Maybe it was just her way of getting away from the things she had to worry about, and it was something that calmed her. It sure calmed _me_ when I heard her sing in my sleep…

Whoa, I'm thinking too much again. I better not let my mind get away with me, and just go find everybody.

I leave the room, and look around the entrance room. No one's there except for the Innkeeper. Great… I hope they didn't go too far. Then again, I guess there was no hurry. They probably just wanted to explore a little. Well, maybe Dagger and Vivi did, but Steiner was probably stalking Dagger to keep her safe. I guess I should be grateful for that. As long as he didn't keep calling her 'Princess' in front of people. He _really_ needs to work on that. I walk out the door and start my search for them.

The morning sun greets me as I go outside. It's a welcome warmth, and it makes me feel sleepy again. I guess yesterday took more out of me than I thought. I turn my head left and right to see what's going on. There's a few houses on the right, the path that leads to the plains on the left, and a little shop right in front of me.

As I look further to the right, I see something familiar at the far end of the path. I wait for a couple of running kids to move out of the way, then I recognize Vivi standing just in front of a windmill. _Well, one down,_ I think as I head over.

Upon approaching him, I say, "Hey Vivi." He starts and turns around quickly.

I put my hands up in front of me. "Whoa, it's ok! It's just me." He relaxes and I go stand next to him.

I look down at him and say, "Sorry if I scared you."

"It's ok," he says honestly. "I was just thinking."

I didn't mean to pry, but I asked, "About what?"

He paused. "Not much. Just… my Grandpa and my old home."

"Oh…" I frown a bit sympathetically. I remembered him telling Steiner that his Grandfather died.

I wasn't sure if I might be getting a little personal, but I was curious. "Do you have any other family?"

He shook his head. "No. He was the only family I remember." He looked at the windmill and said, "He adopted me when I was really little. I don't remember anything about my real family."

I breathed a small, sympathetic sigh. I know what that's like. I guess we had a lot in common.

"Vivi," I said. He looked at me. "If it makes you feel any better, I know what it's like. To not remember your family."

Vivi blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah," I say, starting to feel a bit uneasy. The subject doesn't always bother me, especially since I never bring it up with anyone, but the dream I had last night is still in the back of my mind, and is making me feel a little sensitive to the subject. "I guess you could say my Boss 'adopted' me, along with the other guys in Tantalus." I paused. "I don't remember anything about my family either."

Vivi looked at me with the same sympathetic look I have him. But he also smiled a bit, seeming to be glad that someone else understood how he felt.

"And if you ever need anybody to talk to about it, I'm here," I say reassuringly.

He nods. "Thanks." I nod in return.

"Anyway," I say, "I was looking for all of you guys. We need to decide what we're gonna do, so will you go back to the Inn while I look for Dagger and Steiner?"

He nods. "Sure."

"Ok." I turn to leave. "See you later," then head down the path.

- - - - -

**Interlude**

Dagger backtracked through the path that led to a small garden. The small town street came back into view, and she headed down it. Ever since she woke up that morning, her mind had been racing.

_I hope there will be a sufficient way to get to Lindblum,_ she thought, turning on the path. She was worried that there would be no transportation available, and they would have to walk. She didn't know much about the land that surrounded them, but with the way Zidane was talking about it, walking would take a long time.

And she didn't have much time.

Her mother had been acting strangely for a year now, and she feared that something was about to happen. She wasn't sure why, but she couldn't ignore the feeling. The strange man had come to the castle more often in the past few weeks, and her mother became more secretive. They had to be planning something. And it couldn't be good. She had been in denial for so long. She refused to believe that her mother would do anything that would hurt anyone, but as she began to change, she started to doubt it. The Queen's usually kind and gentle nature had turned into a secretive, short-fused power hungry attitude, and it scared Dagger. Talking to her was never the same. The Queen would act as if talking to her daughter was a waste of time, and barely listen to what she had to say. And even though she had tried to talk to the castle staff, including Steiner about it, they would just say that she was overreacting. They just assumed she was grieving for her father who had died nine months before. But how could they not see the changes in the Queen? How could they not know that something was amiss? How could they just sit back and act as if everything was fine when it wasn't?

So that's when she decided to talk to her Uncle Cid, the Regent of Lindblum. But she rarely visited him, and for some reason, the Queen would not allow her to leave Alexandria. Told her that she had more important duties and didn't need to be going off anywhere. So, she started trying to think of a way to escape. And she found one when she learned that a play was to be held on her sixteenth birthday. The ship and the actors would be provided by Lindblum. She knew it was risky and desperate, but she had no other choice. Time was running out, and she had no other way to get there. So, she would find a way to sneak on board the ship, and have the crew kidnap her. She considered just hiding herself on the ship, but doubted that she would not be found. If it came to it, she would tell them that she was the Princess of Alexandria, and desperately needed to get to Lindblum for an important matter, and that they would not be held responsible for her running away. She knew it was a long shot, and there was a good chance of failure, but it was all she could do.

So, she began training herself in stealth and escape by reading books in the library. No one noticed her change in behavior, just as they hadn't noticed the change in the Queen's, but it was fine with her. It would keep people from questioning her.

But here she was, stuck in the middle of a small village. And the crew had been sent to kidnap her. Why? Who ordered it? If Zidane was telling the truth (which she believed he was) then it was a favor for his Boss's friend. Maybe it was better that the ship crashed… She wasn't glad that some people might have died, but maybe she would be somewhere dangerous if they had taken her to Lindblum.

But… would Zidane have allowed that? Of course. If his Boss ordered him to do something, he would do it. He said so himself. But… there was something about him that told her otherwise. Maybe it was how it was so easy for him to make the decision to help her, even though he wasn't under his Boss's orders. He made the decision on his own. So… she didn't think he would let something bad happen to her. She just didn't.

Finally, she realized that she had wandered into a shop during her sudden mind withdrawal. It was a small shop, with shelves on the right and left, weapons and armor displayed on the opposite wall, and a young woman sitting behind a counter.

"Good morning ma'am!" the young woman said brightly as she saw Dagger enter. "Can I help you with something?"

Dagger blinked. She didn't need to be in here. She didn't mean to wander in, so maybe she would just leave.

Wait… During all of her wondering she had forgotten that Zidane said she had to change her speech so people wouldn't recognize her noble upbringing. He suggested learning by osmosis, and although she had picked up a few different words from him and Vivi, she still didn't know enough. Maybe she could have a conversation with the girl and learn more about their speech.

"I…" she started. How should she start?

But just then, a little boy ran into the shop and brushed past her.

"Eve! You'll never guess what Hunter just did!" he crowed, a huge smile on his face. Dagger blinked in confusion.

"Yacha," Eve hissed, "How many times do I have to tell you not to bother me when I have a customer?"

"Oh, it's quite alright," Dagger said, wincing inwardly as she used Royal speech. She scrambled her brain to find a phrase that Zidane might use. "Don't mind me." Well, he might not use those words, but it was better than what she said before.

"Thanks!" the little boy beamed, and Dagger listened closely as he told a story, trying to study the speech as if she was learning something from a book.

- - - - -

When I got about halfway down the path after talking to Vivi, I look around and try to decide where to look next. Most of these places are people's houses, so Dagger and Steiner won't be in any of those. Then I remember the shop that was in front of the Inn. I head over to it, and go inside.

And, lo and behold, there's Dagger, standing by a shelf. But I'm surprised to see that Steiner's not there. Guess the stalker's taking a break.

I'm about to say her name, but I'm a little puzzled as she stares at the wall in front of her, and shows no reaction to the sounds I made when I entered. I glanced at the woman that sat behind the counter, then looked back at Dagger. What's she doing?

I really, _really_ shouldn't do this, but it's too tempting. It's been a whole day since I've got to have any practical fun with Blank, and I'm overdue. So, I tiptoe behind her, lift my hands and shout, "Boo!"

A small gasp escapes her lips and she spins around, backing into the shelf behind her. She heaves a breath, and I start laughing.

"I'm sorry," I say, trying hard to stop. I smile mischievously. "It was just too tempting."

"Zidane!" she huffs. "You scared me!"

"Obviously," I add, trying to hide my smirk. I hope she doesn't get mad. I guess that wasn't a very good idea.

But surprisingly, she doesn't look mad. She almost looks upset. She takes a breath, and turns back to the shelf.

"Hey," I say, all sarcasm completely wiped off my face and out of my voice at her reaction. "I'm sorry, it was just a joke. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Oh, no, I'm not upset," she says sincerely. "It was fine."

I frown with a bit of suspicion. "Ok… if you say…" Hey… she said 'fine' in a sentence easily.

"Hey…" I say. She turns and looks at me.

"What?"

I smile. "You changed the way you talk didn't you?"

"Yes-" She clears her throat. "I mean, yeah. Does it sound… ok?"

"Yeah!" I say. "You're doing great!" I'm really impressed. She learns _really_ fast.

"Thanks," she says, returning the smile. She hesitates, as if trying to locate more words in her mind, and says, "Did I change everything I need to?"

I pause to think about it. Clothes are fine, name is changed, speech is changed…

"Yep," I answer. "You really fit in. No one's gonna suspect a thing." She smiled again, seeming to be proud of her accomplishment.

I can't believe how well she learns things. She thought up a name really fast and in an unexpected way, and she changed her speech pretty much overnight. She's talented.

"So…" she starts, bringing me out of my thoughts, "Is it ok that I left the Inn?"

"Oh. Yeah, it's fine," I say sincerely. "I guess I got up last so I came to look for you guys. No one was in the room."

"Oh."

I take a quick glance around the shop, then look back at her. "I thought Steiner would be with you."

"Oh," she says, looking a bit sheepish. "Well, I was up before everyone else, and I… needed to think, so I left. I don't know where he is."

"Ok," I say, as if it's no problem (which it's not). "Well, we need to try to decide what to do next, so we should all meet back at the Inn. Will you head over there?"

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'll go back in a minute," I answer. "I talked to Vivi already so he should be there soon, and I should probably find Steiner." I put on a sarcastic tone. "I think the big rust man can take care of himself, but I just want to be sure." Dagger put a hand to her mouth and giggled. I smile. I like making her laugh…

"Anyway, I'll meet you there later."

"Ok," she says, then leaves the shop.

_Wow…_ That's pretty much all I can think as I watch her go. All of this traveling is going to be easier than I thought. I was worried that she might not pick up new speech skills until a lot later, and that we'd run into some problems. But I suggest learning to talk differently, and she's a pro by morning. I guess I have less to worry about than I thought.

Actually, I just have to worry about Steiner now. Maybe once we get to Lindblum he'll get off my back. I'm sure he will, since he's gonna be in the castle with Dagger and I'll be off to check on the Tantalus hideout and see if anyone was there. Very little chance of that, but it was worth a look.

"Um…" I hear a voice say behind me. I turn to see the young woman behind the counter looking at me. "Can I help you sir?"

"Uh… no, that's-" Then I stop. "Yeah. Do you have any weapons for focusing White Magic?"

"Yes I do," she says, getting out of her seat. She turns and picks something up, and turns to me as I approach the counter. "This is a basic Rod. It's the most popular weapon for White Magic users, and it's the easiest to use."

I accept it as she offers it to me. It's about as long as a Mage Staff, and had a blade identical to it on the front of the rounded top. It's made of a light brown wood, and has a smooth, polished finish.

"I'll take it," I say. She gives me a sheath that slings over the holder's shoulder (then get another one since Vivi's had to carry his all this time), I hand her the money, and head toward the door. I hope Dagger likes this. She's gonna need a weapon if she's gonna end up in some fights.

After I walk out of the shop, I look back and forth. Although there can't be that many places where Steiner could be, I don't think I feel like finding him. With my luck, he'd probably say that he woke up this morning and Dagger was gone and he'd have my head for it (although I was clearly the last one to leave the room). I'm sure I could handle him, but with the choking stunt he pulled last time I ticked him off, I don't think it's a good idea to be around him when Dagger's not there. The only one he'll listen to is her, and if she's not there, he'd probably take the opportunity and kill me. I _really_ don't want to go there.

So, I get ready to head back to the Inn, but I glance to the left, and something catches my eye. I walked right past it earlier when I went to talk to Vivi, and again when I went to the shop and found Dagger. I walk over to it.

It looks like a mist engine.

Why in the world would a small town like this have a mist engine sitting between their houses? Since when did they need one? I don't think this town sends crops anywhere. So, what was it doing here?

Well, I guess it wasn't really important. So, I decide to let Steiner find his own way back to the Inn, and I head back to meet Dagger and Vivi.

As I enter our room and shut the door, I see only Dagger there, sitting on her bed. I walk over to her and say, "Hey."

"Hi," she responds. "You couldn't find Steiner?" she asks as I stand between her bed and mine.

"Well," I say, "I decided that he could take care of himself, and reminded myself that he's out for my head and would probably kill me without you around." She gave me a small smile, knowing that it was just a joke. Well, I really did believe that he would kill me, but the comment was for fun. A small silence follows.

"And," I say taking a step forward and offering the weapon in my hand, "I got something for you."

She looks at the weapon quizzically for a moment. She gets up and takes it, examining it up and down. "What is it?"

"It's a Rod," I say. "It's for White Magic users. You can focus your magic more easily with it, and it has a blade so you can do damage to monsters too."

She spins it a bit in her hands, then looks at me. "Thank you," she says with a small, appreciative smile.

"No problem," I say. I hold up the leather belt. "And this is a sheath. You know, so you don't have to carry it in your hands all the time."

She takes it and looks at it as if it was a wonderful present. I guess she didn't expect me to do anything like this.

She then sets the Rod onto her bed, and slings the belt over her right shoulder and around her left hip. After a small adjustment to make sure it fits right, she picks up her weapon and sheaths it.

She looks good, battle clad like that (well, if you can call a sheathed weapon and no armor battle clad). "Good," I say, giving a nod of satisfaction. "Now you can do more than heal. You can kick butt too." She giggles silently. Wow. I made her laugh twice in one day. Sure, they were only small giggles, but the point was, I made her laugh. And I like hearing it.

"So," I say, deciding to try and make a little conversation while we wait for the others, "Do you like Dali?"

"Yes, it's a nice town," she says. She glanced out the window before looking back at me. "It feels good to be able to walk around so freely."

I nod in understanding. I bet she was mostly told what to do and didn't get to do much for herself at the castle. I would hate that.

"But one thing puzzles me," she said.

"What?"

"Have you noticed that there are no adults in sight?"

I pause and think about it. I was so busy looking for them that I didn't realize that until now.

"Yeah, you're right…"

"Isn't that strange?" she asks non-rhetorically.

"Yeah, it is," I say, thinking back. "Like I said, I've only been here once and I don't remember it very well, but there were adults all over last time. Most of them were taking care of the farm and crops."

"I was over by the garden," she says, "And it was very small."

I blink. "It was?"

She nods. "Yeah."

Ok, that's another weird thing. This might be a small town, but they can't survive on a tiny garden. That didn't make sense.

"Well…" I say, "I guess we don't need to worry about it. Whatever they're up to is their business, so we'll leave when Vivi and Steiner get here." She agrees.

I pause, then say, "Then again, I talked to Vivi a while ago. I figured he'd be back by now."

"Maybe we should go look for him," Dagger suggested.

"Yeah, let's do that. Maybe we'll find Steiner too." Then again, I wasn't sure if I liked the idea of Steiner strolling around one of the village's paths and happening to see me and Dagger alone. _That _was a scary thought. But I figured that if she was there then he couldn't hurt me. She stopped him last time. She's so cool.

Telling myself not to worry about it, I lead the way out of the room.

As we step out of the Inn, I look around. I don't see Vivi anywhere, so I try to think of where he might be. There's not many places he could be, since the village is mostly made up of houses. _Well, I guess I could check by the windmill. That's where I last saw him._ I head that way, Dagger following.

As I approach, I can already see that he's not there. But I go all the way anyway, since I don't have that many other ideas. He might've decided to get a closer look at the windmill.

As I stop on the same spot I stood earlier, I glance at the windmill's base. I don't see him there, but it doesn't mean that he's not behind it.

Just before I start to approach it, I hear a quiet sniff. Almost like someone was crying. But the sound was so quiet, and with the windmill's propellers making noise, I think I might've imagined it. But last time I thought I imagined something, it turned out to be some psycho monster that tried to kill us with a blizzard. So, I stay still, keeping my ears alert for another sound.

And, as expected, I hear it again.

And this time, I noticed that it came from my left. I turn my head to look. At first, all I see is the ground and the outside wall of a nearby hut, but then my eye catches something else. The end of a small pipe is protruding from the ground, and another sob travels up it. I turn, and approach it.

"Zidane? What's-"

"Sshhh," I say, putting up a hand to hush Dagger. She stays quiet, and I reach the hole, lowering my hand again.

As another sob echoes from the pipe, I kneel down. This is just weird, and a little disconcerting. Why do I hear someone crying, and why is it through some pipe? Where does the thing lead? Although it might not be any of my business, I can't ignore it.

I put a hand on the ground to support myself as I lean down closer to the hole. I hesitate, then say, "Is somebody there?"

The sobs abruptly cease, and are followed by a silence. I'm about to say it again, but then a voice travels up the pipe.

"Z-Zidane?" it whimpers. "Is that you?"

My eyes widen. It's Vivi.

"Vivi!?" I ask, finding it hard to keep my voice from being a little too loud. I hear Dagger give a small gasp behind me, then come over and kneel down next to me. We exchange a shocked and worried look, then we both look at the hole.

"Yeah," Vivi says quietly.

"Where are you?" I ask. "How did you get there?" I lean a bit closer to the hole, and try to peek down it. It's completely dark.

He pauses, then says, "They told me to stay here…"

I pull away from the hole and frown. They? Someone _put_ him there? "Who's they?"

"I don't know who they are," he sniffed. "They just said that I better not move."

Ok, something definitely isn't right. Obviously, someone kidnapped Vivi and took him somewhere (clearly somewhere underground). But why? Why did someone want Vivi?

I try to keep myself calm and ask, "Do you know where you are?" There was a short silence, and he said, "No."

"Ok," I say. I keep my voice composed so he doesn't feel worse. "Just… stay where you are. Me and Dagger are gonna try to find you, ok?"

He pauses. "Ok." I stand back up, and Dagger follows.

"What's going on?" Dagger asks me, worry and a hint of fear plain in her voice.

I shake my head. "I don't know. But we gotta try to find a way to get down there." I look at her. "Little towns like this usually have underground storage facilities to save room up top. He's probably down there." She nods. Now I just have to figure out how to get down there.

Well, the fact that the pipe is right next to a hut gives a pretty good idea of the entrance.

"Come on," I say to Dagger, walking over to the hut's door. She follows, and we stop in front of it.

I turn the handle, and the door opens. I'm not sure whether to think of that as nothing, or a bit surprising. If Vivi _is_ in the storage area, and if someone took him there, wouldn't this door be locked? Maybe there's a guard inside.

I open the door, and peek inside. There's a small room, and a staircase to the right that leads up to the windmill's housing. There's no one in sight.

_Huh,_ I think, opening the door and walking inside. _I guess if there was a guard then he's off duty._ I look around the room as Dagger follows me inside and shuts the door behind her.

As my eyes travel to the left, they catch sight of a large black hatch. It pretty much stands out on the brown cobblestone floor. I walk over to it and undo the hatch. It opens with a loud, metallic creak. I can see the bottom about twenty feet below.

"Ok, here's our entrance," I say to Dagger. "You go first." She nods without comment and proceeds to climb down the ladder. I glance at the door to make sure no one was coming, then follow after her.

I pull the hatch shut above me, then meet Dagger at the bottom.

I haven't seen many underground areas, but so far it looks like a regular storage facility. The walls and ceiling are none other than soil, showing that the area had been dug out. The room we're in is small, and a little ways to the left is the only visible opening.

"Ok," I say, turning to Dagger. "We don't have any idea who or what is down here, or why someone took Vivi, so let's be quiet." She nods, and follows me as I head for the opening.

A narrow hallway lies before us as we turn the corner. I let my mind shift to stealth mode, and my footsteps are barely audible as they echo off the walls. It's easy since I've been trained in that area. I doubt Dagger's had that privilege, but she seems to be about as quiet as me. I think she might be a little scared too, considering how close she's walking behind me. But that's ok. I'm not gonna let anything happen to her. And her actions are showing me that she knows I won't.

In the short quiet, I start to think about what's going on. Someone kidnapped Vivi, there's no adults around the village, there's a Mist Engine in plain sight above… For a small, quiet looking town that's mostly secluded, it sure has a lot of secrets inside (or rather, underneath).

As we reach the end of the hallway, another large room comes into sight. Obviously, it's the first storage room, what with all the boxes stacked in high piles on the right side. A large barrel blocks off the left side.

Just as we're about to pass it, I hear a voice.

"Is it supposed to be moving?"

I stop in my tracks, and Dagger bumps into me from behind. The voice is coming from the other side of the barrel, underneath a planked canopy that towers over the top of the barrel.

"Get back," I whisper to Dagger, reaching behind myself and gently pushing her behind the barrel. We press our backs against it, and keep out of sight. But there's not much room; my right arm and her left are touching between us.

"Who sent you to get it?" a second voice said. By the sound of it, there were two men, the first one sounding slightly younger than the second. Sent him to get what? I press my head against the barrel, and peek around it. I can't see them, but it helps my hearing.

"The Innkeeper," the first one said.

"The Innkeeper?" the second one questioned. Their voices were carrying pretty clearly over, but the fact that Dagger and I had to stand so close made it so her breathing was pretty audible next to me. But I was able to make out what they said.

"Yeah," said the younger man said. "Why?"

"Well," the older man started, "I'm surprised that he would have helped us. He wasn't very happy when the castle started us on the production of these things."

At those words, I heard a small gasp from Dagger. I guess she thought they meant Alexandria castle. But wasn't it possible that they meant a different one? And what did the castle start production on? What were they talking about?

"Why?" the young man questioned the other's statement.

"He was just mad that we planned on ditching the farm to do the castle's orders instead. He thought it wasn't a good idea."

"Oh." There was a short pause in which I felt Dagger's arm move away from mine. I wasn't sure why, but I didn't leave time to think about it as they started talking again.

"Well," the younger man said, "This is better money, and it's easier to get what we need than it is breaking our backs on crops all day. He'll change his mind eventually."

During the next part of the conversation, I heard Dagger whisper something, but I couldn't make it out because she was talking too quietly and I didn't want to miss the discussion.

"Anyway," the older man said, "This thing can just go in today's shipment. The guy's at the castle will know what to do with it." The younger man agreed, and there was the sound of footsteps.

I pulled my face a little farther back to make sure that they couldn't see me, but not so far that I couldn't see them. A man came into view, followed by-

"Vivi!" I said in a high whisper. The second man was holding on to the back of his shirt, and all three of them turned and started going toward the corridor ahead.

What the heck is going on!? What were those guys talking about, and why do they have Vivi!?

Following my first impulse, I make to run out and rescue Vivi. But just as I'm about to, I feel two small hands wrap around my arm with a tight grip, pulling me back.

"Zidane, wait!"

She managed to pull me back into the position I was in before. I don't look at her at first, my eyes still on the two men escaping with Vivi. But I can't help him until she let's me go.

I turn my head to look at her, and say, "What!?" I kept my voice low so the men wouldn't hear me, and it was hard to keep the frustration out of my tone. Why did she stop me?

She seems unphased by the tone in my voice, and looks at me with a troubled expression. I calm down a bit, now knowing that something is wrong.

She keeps hold of my arm with her right hand, as if she wants to make sure I'm not going to leave until she says what she needs to, and she looks down while putting her left hand on the barrel.

"Look at this," she says in a whisper.

I do as she says, and turn my gaze to a spot on the barrel between us. It's a round, green symbol with a white circle in the middle.

Not seeing why it's important, I'm make to ask her what the problem is. But before I can, she looks at me and says, "I've seen barrels at Alexandria Castle with this symbol."

I look at her. So, those guys _did _mean Alexandria. But what were the barrels for? Did it have to do with whatever Dali was producing? Why would the castle use a small village for production of anything?

I wanted to help Vivi, but this seemed like something that couldn't be ignored. I focused my attention on this for the time being, and said, "Do you know what they were for?"

She shook her head. "No. I happened to see some soldiers unloading them from an airship, but I never saw what was inside." She paused, never breaking eye contact, then said, "I never knew where they came from, but I knew whatever was inside couldn't be good."

I frowned. Something didn't sound right. Maybe this was the reason she left Alexandria. She knew something was going wrong. But why didn't she just tell her mother about it? Why run away?

Well, I wouldn't be able to figure it out no matter how hard I tried. There wasn't enough information, and now wasn't the time to ask. Hopefully, if this was why Dagger left, I would be able to help her with it later. But right now, we had to help Vivi.

"Ok," I said. "We'll try to figure it out later. But right now, let's help Vivi." She glances at the barrel again, then nods in agreement.

With that, I peek around the barrel. I'm not surprised to see that Vivi and the two men are nowhere in sight.

I turn back to Dagger and say, "Ok, they went down the hall. Let's stay quiet and follow them." She nods again, and let's go of my arm.

We emerge from our hiding place, and quickly start toward the corridor. I momentarily steal a glance toward the small hut that the men were in, seeing that it is empty, and return my attention to the path ahead.

As we enter the next room, a mountain of boxes sits on either side of the large room. A path lays between the piles, leading to another room far ahead. We take cover behind a box, looking ahead to make sure no one is in sight, then proceed forward.

As we enter the next room, I hear a rhythmic pattern of metallic clicks and hisses of smoke. It sounds like some kind of machine.

And sure enough, just ahead of us, resting on the left of a wooden path is a large machine. Every time a metallic click sounds, a large, round object protrudes from the machine and is carried away on a conveyor belt.

What is going on? From the looks of it, that's a mist machine. Why would they have a machine that uses mist in an underground storage facility? And what are those things coming out of it?

Before I can think any further into it, I hear yet another sniff to my left. My head automatically turns toward it. It came from an odd pile of boxes, each in different sizes and shapes. I guess Dagger heard it too, because she's looking at them too.

Without saying anything, I turn and approach the boxes. Another sniff resounds from the area, and now I know which box it is.

"Vivi?" I say, knowing it's him.

"Zidane!?" I hear his muffled voice call.

"Yeah, I'm right here," I say, stopping next to the box. It's a long box, about as tall as me and propped up against the wall. I put my hands on each side of it and gently lower it into a laying position.

"Just hold on a sec, ok?" I say, looking for the latch on the cover. Dagger reaches my side and watches.

What the heck is going on!? It's enough that we're finding that weird stuff is going on here, and that Alexandria Castle is involved, but why did they kidnap Vivi, and why the heck did they put him in a box?

I find the latch, and click it open. I open the lid, and there's Vivi, lying there and looking up at me with a tear stained face.

"Zidane," he says, standing up. I help him out of the box as I stand.

"Vivi, are you ok?" Dagger asks, worry plain in her voice. He wipes his eyes with the back of his sleeve and says, "Yeah."

I kneel back down in front of him, making it so that we're eye level. I'm definitely not happy about any of this, and I'm really confused, but I know that this isn't going to be any easier for anyone if I don't stay calm.

So, making sure that my tone is tranquil, I ask, "What happened?"

He pauses, seeming to be calmer than he was before, and says, "After you left the windmill earlier, somebody grabbed me from behind and dragged me here. I couldn't really see what was going on because it happened so fast." He paused, the memory seeming to disturb him. "They wouldn't stop asking me questions. They wanted to know what I was doing and how I got outside. But I was scared, so I didn't say anything. Then they started talking about how I shouldn't be moving, and something about production."

I nod. "Yeah. We heard that part."

Vivi glanced at Dagger, then said, "Then they just brought me over here and put me in a box for 'today's shipment.'"

Well, even with more information, it still didn't make sense. But all of this wasn't something we could ignore. We had to find out more.

"Ok," I said, standing back up. "At least you're ok."

Ok, now I have to see how he feels about continuing forward. I'm sure the only thing on his mind right now his getting out of here, and I don't blame him. But there's just too many unanswered questions. Ones that can't be ignored. Something is going on here, and I'm pretty sure it's connected to Dagger's reason for leaving Alexandria. We have to find out more.

"Vivi," I start. He looks at me. I hesitate, hoping that I'm not going to upset him. "Because of what happened to you, and what those guys are talking about… we need to investigate a little more."

His answer surprises me.

"I wanna know what's going on too. Let's go."

Wow. That was blunt. I guess I shouldn't have assumed that he wouldn't want to go. He's tougher than I thought.

I look at Dagger, then back at Vivi. I nod. "Ok. Let's just stay together, and stay alert. We don't want to get caught." They both nod, and we head over to the machine.

We stop in front of it, watching it periodically spit out the round objects onto a conveyor belt. Now that we're closer, I see that they're made of a patched cloth, and are about eight feet around and about as tall as Dagger. One comes out maybe every five seconds.

"What are they?" Dagger asks from behind me. Her voice wavers with a hint of fear. I can't blame her though; these things are probably connected to her castle, and they might be the reason she ran away.

"I don't know," I say, following the direction of the conveyor belt. It turns to the left and stretches ahead of us, on the left of the planked path. It goes about thirty feet before entering another machine. But this one is a lot bigger than the first. I motion for them to follow, and walk down the planked path to check it out.

A small door opens on the front of the machine every time one of the patched round things gets to it, and it closes until another one comes. The machines looks like a complicated series of pipes, all tangled around each other, and a small 'shing' is heard every time it swallows an object.

Well, we know where the round things are coming from, but we don't know what they're for. And if it's connected to Alexandria, and Dagger is concerned about it, it can't be good. I start to wonder if I even want to know what's going on. But it's not about me. Right now, I'm doing this for Dagger and Vivi.

The others have been quiet the whole time, so I glance back at them. They're watching the line of objects be carried over to the new machine, each with different expressions. Vivi looks confused and a little scared. Dagger looks frightened, disturbed, and almost like there's something she's trying to deny. I can't tell what it is though.

"Come on," I say. They both look at me, and I lead the way down the path.

The path leads us into a hall. Behind the wall on our left is the machine that makes the 'shing' sounds, and the right is silent. It's a little dark, considering that we're underground, and there isn't any lanterns or torches lighting the way. Dagger and Vivi walk closely behind me, and I see a light up ahead as the path turns to the right. Whatever those things are must be going through the machine and into the next room. Hopefully, we'll figure out what they are when we get there.

And we did.

Upon entering the next room, the left wall ends and, being carried along a mechanic pulley, are what look like Black Mages.

The surprise makes my gut clench, and I stop in my tracks. I hear the others gasp in surprise, and stop short behind me. We all stare at the display, not sure if we're really seeing it.

_This doesn't make sense,_ I think, watching them be carried off to another part of the room. Other than being taller and a little more built, these things are definitely Black Mages, just like Vivi. But… why are they here? They're eyes aren't even visible against their empty black faces. Are they dead? Are they sleeping? Why are they even here?

Pretty much everyone can recognize a Black Mage when they see one. They used to live on certain parts of the Mist Continent, but a long time ago, they disappeared for reasons unknown. But because they had lived here for a time, they were shown and mentioned in books, so almost everyone knows what they looked like. But they were rarely seen around here anymore; I don't recall ever seeing one in Lindblum in all the years that I lived there. Actually, according to some of the people's talk, one hadn't been seen anywhere on this continent in years. I was surprised when I first saw Vivi in Alexandria, but that was only because no one had seen one in so long.

But now, we're seeing one be carried away on a pulley every five seconds. Was this why no one had seen one in so long? How did they get here? What was going on?

Just then, I'm pulled out of my thoughts as I pick up the sound of footsteps over the machine's noise. I whip my head back, and realize that they're coming from the hall that we took to get here. If they catch us, I doubt the circumstances will be good. There's no way that they'll be happy we saw this.

I turn to Dagger and Vivi and say, "Guys, someone's coming! We have to hide!" It was then that I realized how terrified they were. Vivi was shaking uncontrollably and avoiding the sight of the Black Mages. Dagger just stared aghast, as if she didn't think she was really seeing it, and she didn't want to believe she was.

The footsteps got louder, and I knew they were gonna see us any second. Without saying anything else, I grabbed each of their hands with one of my own, turned, and dragged them away from the hallway.

"What are you-"

"Quiet!" I hissed. I ran forward, and made to turn into an area on the right. But I stopped right away and headed the other way as I saw a bunch of people moving boxes. Instead, I went forward and, seeing nothing else, I dragged Dagger and Vivi up the steps to a small housing, ran inside, and sat them down by a wall. The little area was dark, except for a bit of light that shone from the door we entered, a small opening on the right, and round hole in the ceiling.

"Hey! What's-"

"Ssshh!" I put my hands over their mouths to forestall any questions. Through the minimal lighting, I can see their confused expressions. "Just stay quiet," I say, releasing their mouths. Luckily, they remain silent, and we listen to the goings on.

"What was that?" a male voice said somewhere to my right.

"I didn't hear anything," a female voice said form the left.

During a short pause, I turn and look to the right, toward the small opening. Where are we? I just ran in here because it was the only place we could hide.

"Well, whatever," the man says. I take a step toward the small opening. "Just be ready. It's gonna leave soon."

"Yeah, I know," the female voice says.

Just as her voice fades and my foot touches the floor, I hear a very faint 'click' under my foot. I look down, and see that I've stepped on a small switch.

Before I can figure out what it was, something suddenly blocks all the light above me, and there's the clunk of wood on wood, and I'm wrapped in complete darkness. I faintly hear Dagger and Vivi call my name, then I feel whatever is holding me be pulled away swiftly, drowning out anything else that's happening.

- - - - -

**Interlude**

Why must this old man be so incompetent? He was just like the Pluto Knights!

"But sir-" Steiner started, only to be interrupted by the old man that proceeded to walk through the open door to his hut.

"I have told you, I am busy," he says, then enters his house and shuts the door.

Steiner growls to himself, clenching his metal fists. What did it take to get a little information!? Was it _that_ hard to answer a simple question?

Ever since he woke up this morning (he had been standing guard by the Princess's bed, keeping an eye on the thief. He fell asleep standing up again), he had been trying to find transportation that would get them to Alexandria. Well, at first he was looking for the Princess, considering that she was gone when he awoke. But when he went to look for her, he happened to see her by a garden. His first thought was to go talk to her and tell her it wasn't safe for her to wander off like that, but he knew she wouldn't listen. She would tell him that he worried too much, and that she'd be fine. So, he decided to let her be for now, and try to find a way out of this village. His wandering brought him to a small shop. The keeper was a little girl, which he was surprised to see. But because these people lived here, they would know of any transportation that was available. So, she directed him to a small mountain on the outskirts of the village, where an old man named Morrid lived. Apparently, he was in charge of the 'Cargo Ship,' and was in charge of its flight schedule. So he headed over to ask the man when it would arrive, where it was headed, and when it would leave.

But so far, the old man had been as useless as his knights.

He asked him those three questions, but all he got was, 'It is headed to Alexandria Castle.' And of course, Steiner became excited at this news and wanted more information. But Morrid simply said he was busy, and walked off.

Steiner stood outside the old man's hut, trying to decide what to do. He was already angry with the old man's stupidity. He didn't think that he was trying to get on his nerves. Maybe he really was busy. But with Steiner's current mood, he just decided that the old man was senile.

At first, he just wanted to barge in the house and demand that the old man answer his questions. But he thought that it might be too rude, and he'd be just as bad as the thieving monkey if he were to barge into someone's home. But he decided it didn't matter; he was doing this for Princess Garnet.

Mind made up, he grabbed the door handle and opened it. He walked inside, and there stood Morrid, seeming to have no quandary at the fact that Steiner had let himself in. Actually, he just had the look of happy idiocy on his face. Maybe he _was _senile.

"Well well, you again, hmm?" Morrid crowed happily, holding a cup of coffee in his hand and stirring it with a spoon in the other. Steiner blinked. At first he had been avoiding any assistance in answering Steiner's questions, and now he looked as if the knight was a good friend.

Yep, _senile._

Steiner tried to keep his angered composure calm, and said, "Sir, I require some information about the Cargo Ship."

Morrid released his spoon and scratched his head. "Oh, that hunk of junk?" He nodded. "Yes, I run that thing you know. I make all the flight plans for it."

Steiner rolled his eyes, but remained calm. "Yes, that's why I am here. I was told that you could tell me when it will be arriving and when it will leave."

The old man paused, the clunked his forehead with the butt of his palm. "Oh, is that all? Well, why didn't you say so?"

Steiner silently fumed. _I_ did _say so, ridiculous old man._

"Well," Morrid said, seeming to think that this was a casual conversation, and he wasn't having it with a knight that was borderline homicidal. "It's here right now. Being loaded as we speak."

Steiner's eyes bugged out. 'What!? Now!?"

Morrid nodded, looking at the knight with a confused expression. "Yes, sonny, don't ya here good?" He tapped the side of his head with his spoon. "Are ya alright up here?"

If it was possible, steam would have streamed form Steiner's ears. He really didn't need this right now. But he forced his voice to be tranquil. "When will it leave?"

The old man shrugged, putting his spoon back in his cup and continued to stir the liquid. "Whenever it's loaded."

Steiner wanted to protest, but stopped. That was probably all the information he would get, and if the ship was already here than it would leave soon.

Forcing his voice to sound sincere, he said, "Thank you, sir."

The old man waved a hand. "No problem kid." He tapped his head with his finger. "And get that checked now, hmm?" Steiner growled dangerously under his breath, then left the hut.

Out in the fresh air, Steiner was able to collect his thoughts and calm down. As he looked toward the town, he could see the ship sitting nearby, maybe three hundred yards from where he stood. He smiled to himself. He had found transportation, and it was headed to Alexandria. In the monkey's face! They wouldn't be going to Lindblum. They would be going back to the castle, and the thief's punishment would finally commence. It would be death of course.

But the only problem now was how he was going to get the Princess onto the ship. She was set on going to Lindblum, no matter what he said. She would refuse if he told her where the Cargo Ship was going.

Just then, he saw a small movement next to the ship. At first, he wasn't sure what it was, or where it came from. Then, he realized that it was something large, emerging form the ground. That was strange.

Wait. There was something going on over there.

And he left the Princess in the village unsupervised!

Without another thought, he ran for the intended spot at full speed.

- - - - -

Ok, I don't have that many phobias. I'm really not afraid of that many things. Heights are fine, Oglops are fine, spiders aren't a big deal…

But I'm starting to feel a little claustrophobic.

The only thing I could figure out after everything went black was that I somehow got trapped in a box. A tall, thin box. And it was kind of small. My head was touching the top when I stood straight up, and there was almost no room to move my arms. And there couldn't be very much air in here. Yeah, I'm feeling claustrophobic.

After I ended up in the box, I felt something jerk me around a little, then I ended up rolling around. That lasted a minute, then it came to a sudden halt. Now, there's no movement around and (from what I can tell) my box is upright, and I'm pretty sure that some other ones surround me. They were clunking into me when I was rolling.

Actually, the rolling stopped, but I think I feel something moving.

"Hey!" I call out. I don't know if it's a good idea, but I gotta get out of here. It's starting to get hard to breath. "Is somebody there?"

There's a short pause, then…

"Zidane!? Is that you!?"

It's Dagger. Her voice is _really_ muffled, but it's definitely her.

"Yeah, it's me," I call back. "Are you ok?"

"I-I don't know," she says. She sounds frantic. "I think I'm in a box. Where are you?"

"Well, I'm in a box, so you probably are too," I say.

Wait. If Dagger's here, then…

"Vivi? Are you here?"

"…Yeah."

Ok. So, whatever I ended up doing to get myself stuck in a box must be what they ended up doing too.

"I'm scared…" Vivi said.

"Ok, just hold on," I say, moving my arms around a bit. "You guys just stay calm, and I'll try to get us out." They both agree, and I try to figure out how to get out.

Of course, I can't see a thing in the pitch-black darkness, so I rely on touch. I run my hand across the box's wall until I find the corner where two of the boards meet. I run my fingers down the crease, hoping I can find the mechanism that keeps the latch closed.

One of my fingers bumps into something small on the way down. I feel it a couple of times, seeing if there's a way to undo it. It's pretty hard to do when I can't see, but I manage to grab a small lever between two of my fingertips and click it open.

The box doesn't open all the way as I push the lid over. And I'm surprised to be greeted by just as much darkness as before. It takes me a second, but I manage to squeeze out my wooden prison.

Of course. Our boxes are in another bigger box.

Now I'm squished between the wall of the big box and the lid of the box I just escaped from. Not much more room than there was before.

"Zidane? What's going on?" I hear Dagger's voice say.

"Hang on a sec," I say, reaching my hands up to find the top. Just above my head my hands rest against the larger box's lid. "I got out, but all of our boxes are in a bigger one. I'm gonna try to get this one open so I can get you guys out."

"Ok," she says quietly.

I'm hoping that all I need to do to open this thing is push it really hard. If it's nailed down, we're in trouble, but I'll try what I can first.

I push hard on the lid, but it doesn't budge. I thrust my palms onto it, and there's a small creak. Cool. Maybe a little more force is all I need.

So, I lower my arms, the thrust them violently upward. The lid flies off, and the sunlight spills inside, almost blinding me.

I grab the edge of the box and hoist myself up, keeping my eyes squinted as the sun makes my eyes burn. I decide to stand on the edge of the box until my eyes adjust so I can see what I'm doing.

But I end up hearing an all too familiar voice start yelling.

"YOU!!!"

Steiner. What's he doing here?

I turn my head to the left, in the direction I heard him, and blink a few times. My eyes manage to adjust and I see him standing there, pointing as armored finger at me with a look of angered horror on his face.

"How-What-" he stammers. I roll my eyes and turn to the box. _This should be fun,_ I think with dry sarcasm. As I look down in the box (or rather, the large barrel), I see about five tall boxes (or six, if you include the one I was in) standing neatly together. Dagger and Vivi are in two of them.

"What is going on!?" Steiner hollers behind me. "Where is the Princess!?"

I ignore him. He wouldn't believe me if I tried to explain, and he'll just take up the time I could be using getting them out. I doubt they have much air in there.

"Dagger! Vivi!" I call. "I'm out! Move around so I can see which boxes you're in!"

Simultaneously, a pair of boxes on the right side jiggle, followed by muffled words that I can't make out.

"WHAT!?" Steiner yells as I step over the other boxes and reach for one of the ones that moved. "The Princess is in there!?"

"Steiner, shut up!" I say, finally getting sick of his yelling. I wrap my hands around the box and proceed to hoist it up. "Just get over here and help me!" Without much hesitation, I hear his metal footsteps carry him over. I guess he's decided to cooperate since Dagger's involved.

I managed to pull up the box (not knowing which one of them is in it) and hand it over to Steiner. I tell him that one of them is in there, and be careful with it. He sets the box down, and takes the other as I give it to him.

When they're both on the ground, I jump down and we each open a box. Vivi's in the one I opened, and Dagger's in the one Steiner opened. And he, of course, jumps right into his whole '_The Princess better be alright or it's_ your _fault!'_

"Princess!" He says, helping her to her feet as I help Vivi out of his box. "Are you alright!?"

"Yes, Steiner, I'm fine," she says, brushing off her pant leg and stepping away form the box. She looks a little winded, but she looks ok. Vivi looks unhurt, but he won't talk to me.

And now, it's time for the 'Steiner Blames Everything On Me' show.

"You!" he says, pointing a finger at me. "What have you done!? What is going on!?"

Luckily, Dagger saves me the explanation. He wouldn't have believed me anyway.

"Steiner, calm down," she says, which effectively shuts him up. "Zidane hasn't done anything wrong." 

"But-"

"Steiner," Dagger says firmly, "He hasn't hurt anyone. We were only captured by accident, and it wasn't his fault. We were helping Vivi because someone from the village took him."

Steiner looks like he wants to question, but no words come out. I'm sure he wants to know where we were and what we saw, but I don't know if it's a good idea to tell him.

But no one gets that far anyway.

Just then, something catches my eye on my right. At first, it looks like it's far away, but then it's in front of us in the same second.

It's big, about twice my size, flying on black wings, and staring down at us with yellow eyes.

It looks like a larger version of the monster I fought in the Ice Cavern.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Well, I didn't want to end it there, but if I ended it where I wanted to, this chapter would have been _way_ too long. So, thanks for reading, and reviews always help me to keep writing._


	6. Chapter 6

_Hello._

_Thanks again to anyone who is reading this. I've been having lots of fun writing it, and knowing that people are enjoying it makes me want to keep writing. I hope the time between chapters wasn't too long, but if I'm gonna have long descriptive chapters, they might take a while. Plus, it's not the only story I'm writing._

_Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter._

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Not good, not good, NOT GOOD…_

That's all I can seem to think as I stare up at the monster's face as it hovers in front of us. I've already ripped out my weapons and jumped forward, putting myself between the monster and the others. It's looking down at me with a malicious smile that's making my skin crawl. What the heck is this thing!? Does it have any connection to the one that was in the Ice Cavern? What do they want?

The thing takes it's hateful stare off me and looks behind me. It speaks to whoever it's looking at, it's voice sounding like the first monster's but deeper.

"Princess Garnet, you must come with me." His voice is completely void of emotion.

The first one to answer to this is Steiner.

""What!? What are you!? How _dare_ you address the Princess!"

Yeah, thanks Steiner. Big help.

The thing laughs grittily, just like the first monster. "I was told by the Queen that Princess Garnet is to be captured immediately."

My eyes widen.

"What!?" Dagger gasps.

"Lies!" Steiner yells.

"Wait a second!" I interrupt. The thing looks at me, and I can feel the eyes of the others on me. Crap. So much for keeping a secret. Then again, I need an answer.

"You were both sent by the castle?" I ask.

"Ahh," the thing says, folding its arms at looking at me as if I might be something notable, "So, you are the one who defeated Black Waltz number one?" It smiles, but it looks unimpressed. "I am Black Waltz number two."

Black Waltz huh? So that's what the thing in the Ice Cavern was, and that's why it was there. It wanted Dagger.

"What!? What is all this about defeating the first!?" I hear Steiner yell. Crap. Cat's out of the bag.

But I don't get a chance to answer, cause the Black Waltz looks ready to fight.

"Enough!" it says, unfolding its arms. "I do not have time to be wasted on you!" It looks at Dagger and waves an arm at me, Steiner and Vivi, saying, "Princess, you stay out of this while I kill this rabble!"

Dagger gasps, and I hold my weapons tighter.

Draw the battle lines.

The thing lifts it hand, and a crimson air begins to circle its fist.

I twist around, now seeing that the others already have their weapons drawn, and I say, "Spread out" They all turn in different directions, and I run forward.

Just as I turn toward the barrel, the Black Waltz shoots a flame at me, and it lands just inches away from my feet. I dive behind the barrel and crouch down. It's then that I realize Vivi's here too.

Ok, what do we do? This thing is bigger than the first monster, so it's got to have more power. We now know that it's here for Dagger, so I know it won't hurt her, but I gotta keep an eye on her so it doesn't get her. And it wants to kill the rest of us, so we need to be careful.

Just then, the thing appears from nowhere, right in front of me. My stomach jumps, and I look into its maliciously smiling face.

Great. It can teleport too.

I jump up, ready to grab Vivi and run off, but that stupid monster took me by surprise and I'm too slow. It lifts a hand and swings hard, catching me in the side, and knocking me into Vivi. The force sends us flying to the side a few feet, both landing onto our sides hard.

Ok, that hurt.

My breath catches as I struggle to get up, and try to see where Vivi and the monster are at the same time. I clutch my side with one hand as I see Vivi getting onto his feet quickly. I turn my head to see the Black Waltz, and see it looking straight at me, a cerulean glow already forming in one of its hands. It shoots an ice shard at me, and I roll to the side, letting the ice stick into the ground.

As I struggle to my feet, I see the monster preparing another ice shard, still looking at me and Vivi.

But just before it can shoot it, a curdling scream erupts from it, and the magic's glow fades. At the same time, a sword erupts from the thing's chest.

I blink in shock, ignoring the thing's nasty scream. I get onto my feet and take a step to the side, looking behind it.

Steiner's right behind it, a look of pure determination on his face. He's holding his sword in both hands, and it's thrust through the Black Waltz's back.

Whoa! This guy's got skills!

I watch as Steiner pulls his sword back, causing another loud, but short cry to erupt from the Black Waltz. It hovers in the air for a second, it's head declined so I can't see its face. It'll fall over any second now…

Who am I kidding?

The monster thrusts it's head up, turns, grabs Steiner's arm, and throws him like a rag doll at me and Vivi. He lands with a big metallic clunk right next to me.

How the heck is that thing not dead!?

As Steiner gets up, I look over at the Black Waltz. But at the same time, it already has a BIG fire spell glowing on both of its hands, and it shoots it at us.

This is gonna hurt.

But just then, I hear a 'shing' sound, and a gleaming blue wall surrounds me, Vivi and Steiner. The fire spell hits it, and dissipates completely.

_What the…?_ I think as I turn my head.

Just a few feet behind us, I see Dagger standing there with her Rod grasped firmly in both hands, and a look of hard concentration on her face. She's holding the weapon in both hands, and facing us and the blue wall. Did Dagger make the wall?

Before I can find out, there's a gritty groan sound behind me. I turn my head to look, and see the Black Waltz wavering as it hovers in the air, holding the gaping hole in its chest with both hands. I guess it had a little more fight in it, but that injury was too much for it.

Its head lolls to the side, then it falls to the ground, a small gasp escaping its lips before it becomes still.

As it lies there, a black smoke surrounds it, just like the first monster. It covers the body, then disappears, any sign that it was ever there gone.

As soon as it faded, the blue wall vanished, and I turn my head to look at Dagger. She's on her hands and knees, panting loudly.

"PRINCESS!!!"

Ok Steiner, it's ok to be worried about her, but do you _have_ to yell her royal heritage when she's supposed to be hiding it!?

He runs over to her and kneels down, looking at her like she's dying. I run over, but I stay a few safe feet away as usual so Steiner doesn't kill me. I'm sure he'd want to make sure she was ok without me interfering, and I doubt he's very happy about the information he just found out from the Black Waltz. I give him about ten seconds before he turns to me and starts yelling at me about it.

Dagger puts a hand in front of Steiner, saying, "I'm ok, Steiner, really. Don't worry about it." Steiner looks skeptical, but he remains quiet as she catches her breath.

When her breathing is a little more elevated, she slowly gets to her feet (which Steiner jumps right in to help with), and sheaths her weapon before looking at me.

"Is everyone ok?" she asks.

I nod. "Yeah, everyone's fine." I glance behind me. "The monster's gone." She nods, looking relieved by the answers.

"Did you cast that spell?" I ask her, sheathing my own weapons. Now that the danger's out of the way, I'm curious to how the wall suddenly appeared. Vivi comes up next to me, and I look at him. He nods to let me know he's ok, and I nod back. I doubt he's fine after everything we've seen, but I'm glad to see that we can worry about it later. I look back at Dagger and wait for her answer.

She nods. She pauses as if she's gathering a few thoughts, then says, "I've… never used it before. I'm not really sure how I did it. It just… sort of came to me."

I pause. Although I've never seen that spell before, I've heard that white magic users can do more than just heal. They can use protective spells, and they take energy from the user just like healing does. I'm not sure about the extents, like how the magic takes their energy, but it's even more obvious now that Dagger is inexperienced with her magic. She looked ready to pass out after that spell.

But hey, thanks to her we weren't fried to a crisp.

"Well, you really saved the day," I said. "If you didn't cast that spell, we'd have been in big trouble."

She smiles, seeming to be glad to hear that her help was appreciated.

Our eye contact is broken as I hear a metal clink to the side.

Three, two, one…

"Wait a minute!!!"

Hmmm, I guess I gave him too much credit. It took him twenty seconds. He's slower than I thought.

I turn to him, sighing silently with annoyance as I prepare myself for the yelling and finger pointing that is sure to come.

Sure enough, he turns to me, points at me, and says accusingly, "Why did that monster say you defeated the first!? What are you hiding!?"

"Steiner, enough," Dagger says firmly. And, like a good little hound dog, Steiner shuts his mouth, lowers his finger and looks at Dagger apologetically. Yeah, looks at _her _apologetically. Jerk.

Dagger turns to me, her face seeming calm, but slightly questioning. I hope she's not upset. It's pretty obvious now that I lied to them.

"Zidane?" she says. "What did the monster mean?"

I pause, and my tail flicks a little uncomfortably. I hate that I have to admit I lied. I didn't like doing it in the first place, but maybe she'll understand why I did it. Hopefully it won't break any trust that she might have had with me. Although, I know there will be lots of pretty fireworks flying from Steiner's mouth. That should be fun.

"Ok," I say, lifting my hands in my own defense, "You have to understand that I didn't say anything because I thought it wasn't a big deal." I pause, lowering my hands, then say, "There was a monster like that one in the Ice Cavern, and I fought it while you guys were unconscious. Apparently, it was what was causing the blizzard. It attacked me because I didn't pass out like you guys did, so I killed it, and the storm stopped." I pause for a few seconds to let that soak in, then say, "But I didn't tell you guys because I thought you'd worry, and I didn't see any point in letting you deal with it since it was dead."

I take a breath, and wait for her answer.

She frowns slightly, as if she's a bit confused with it, but she doesn't look mad. Actually, she almost looks a bit frightened. She hesitates, then asks, "Did it say anything about me, like the other one did?"

I shook my head. "No. All it said was that it was going to kill me because I didn't fall asleep like you guys did. So, I guessed it was there specifically for us, but I decided not to say anything to you because I didn't know for sure, and it was dead anyway."

There's a short pause, in which Dagger averts my gaze and looks like she's thinking about something. I can't tell what it is, but I hope she's not mad. I take the moment to add, "And I'm sorry I lied. I hope you understand why I did."

She looks back at me. After a second, she says, "Yes, it's ok. I understand."

I sigh silently. Wow, that actually makes me feel a lot better. I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore.

Well, at least not with Dagger.

"You see!?" Steiner says. I roll my eyes and groan silently with frustration. This guys needs to learn to shut up!

"I told you he was lying about something!" he said, a look of triumph on his face. It makes me want to go over there and smack it off. Why does he have to keep looking for reasons to put blame on me when all I've done is help them?

"Steiner," Dagger says, her tone firm and somewhat distressed. She's probably getting sick of his outbursts too. He looks at her, and she says, "Stop trying to blame this on Zidane. He may have lied, but he did it for a good reason. And, he came clean when we asked him about it."

Steiner opens his mouth to say something, but closes it right away. His face starts to turn red, and he gives me the scariest look he's given me yet (and that's saying something, considering all the death glares that he's given me). This look says '_If the princess wasn't here right now I would cut your throat and enjoy it!_' Wow. This guy can say a lot with looks just like Baku. Or maybe I can just read looks better than I thought. Well, either way, that look is freaking me out.

Anyway, I look away and absentmindedly scratch the back of my head so I don't have to look at Steiner's homicidal face.

As I do, my eyes land on something big that I didn't even notice before. I scan it up and down, and realize that it's an airship. Well, it's not a big one like the Theater Ship, but hey, it's an airship. Then again, I wonder why a small village would have any kind of airship. Heck, I'm wondering why it's been doing _any _of the weird things that have been going on since we got here. But the point is, there's an airship, and maybe we can find out where it's going and get out of here.

I lower my hand and say, "Hey, looks like they have transportation after all." I turn to the others and say, "Let's find out where it goes and see if the people on board will let us go with them."

And I'm surprised to see that Steiner is the first to answer my comment. All of the previous anger has left his face and is replaced with the look of a cornered rabbit. A cornered rabbit that looks like it's having a really hard time trying to work a way out of a predicament with it's _oh so_ little brain.

"I-it," Steiner stutters, looking at the ground, "It is going to, L-Lindblum."

"Really?" I say, relieved to hear the news. "That's great! Now we just have to see if they'll let us go with them."

At that, Steiner's gaze shoot up and he looks straight at me, his eyes looking stressed and his face a little rigid. "I-I shall ask them." Then he runs off toward the ship and climbs up the ladder.

_Uh…ok…_ I think as I watch him go. Something isn't right. At first, I thought he was upset that he had to admit that the ship was going to Lindblum. But if he just runs off to the ship to ask if we can ride with them, and he actually left Dagger behind with me here, then something isn't right. And now that I'm looking closer at then ship, I see that it's got those barrels with the green symbols attached to it's side. Dagger said she saw them at Alexandria. Steiner's not telling the truth.

"He's not telling the truth," Dagger says. I look at her and she says, "This ship can't be going to Lindblum." She looks at me. "He's been fighting me the whole way about it. There's no way he'd be ok with it now." She pauses. "He's lying, isn't he?"

I nod. "Yeah, he's got to be."

"Then, where is the ship really going?" she asks.

I pause. Well, that's actually pretty obvious. "If he's gonna be this anxious to get you on the ship," I say, then point at the barrels, "And it's carrying those, it's going to Alexandria."

She's about to say something else, but she stops when we hear a loud noise next to us. We look, and see the ship vibrating into life, the rudders slowly beginning to spin.

I blink. Ok, if he wants Dagger on the ship so bad, why is it about to take off without her? Did they say no and their trying to get him off, or is he gonna come back to get her?

But after a few seconds, there's no sign of him. What's he doing?

Well, although letting the ship take off now would mean no more Steiner, I have another idea. I really don't want to walk all the way to Lindblum. It will take too long. So, although I doubt it's a good idea to intercept something that transports stuff to a castle, I don't really care. If I stop to think about it, I'm sure I've done things more dangerous and stupid. Blank convinced me to sneak up on a monster and scare it once, which resulted in two days of bed rest for me after it attacked me. Sure, I was like, eight, but the point is, I've done things more dangerous. And this is important, not just some stupid game.

I turn to Dagger and say, "Ok, let's get on it before it takes off."

Dagger whips her head in my direction and looks at me like I'm nuts. "What!?" she says, obviously in disbelief at my request. "I can't go back to Alexandria!"

The ship gives another jerk, and I know it's gonna take off soon. "I know," I say, trying to speed things up, "But if you just get on, I'll get you to Lindblum."

She looks like she wants to question me, but there's not enough time. The ship's moving.

"Just trust me!" I say.

She takes a moment's hesitation, then nods and runs toward the ship. I nod to Vivi, and he follows me.

Vivi gets to the ladder first and climbs up it. Dagger gets there next and follows him. By the time they've climbed up, the ship is already pulling away, and I have to jump to get onto the ladder before I'm left behind. It ascends pretty quickly as I climb the ladder, and the village of Dali becomes smaller with each passing second.

I join Dagger and Vivi outside the ship's back door, on a small deck. We all stand there and watch the ground begin to distance itself from the ship as it gains altitude. Once it's at a straight pace, Dagger turns to me.

"Now what do we do?" she asks.

I glance at the ground one more time before saying, "We have to go inside and sneak around the ship's crew. If I can get to the captain's cabin, I'll turn the ship around." I'm not sure if she thinks it's gonna work, but she doesn't question me. I just hope we don't get caught. And, I'd like to know why Steiner let the thing take off before he got Dagger aboard.

I glance at both of them, and they give me nods of approval. I walk over to the side of the door, and stay out of the doorway's sight before carefully opening it.

Once it's opened a crack, I peek inside. I can see that it's the engine room, since the large engine is sitting behind a rail on the right, hissing mist out of little pipes. I glance around to check for the ship's crew while trying to think of a way to get past them.

But just then, something comes from the right, just past the doorway. I almost recoil and shut the door so they don't see me, but I stop when I realize what it is.

A Black Mage.

It looks just like one of the Black Mages we saw in the underground storage facility. But it's alive. It's walking around and doing something with the engine.

What is going on? First we see them on some conveyor belt in Dali, apparently dead or unconscious, and now there's one working on the ship. This doesn't make sense.

Momentarily, it turns its gaze toward the door, and I get ready to close it when we make eye contact. But it looks away again as if it never saw me. I frown in puzzlement. It saw me, didn't it? Why didn't it do something about it?

"Zidane?"

I look away from the door and look at Dagger. "What's wrong?" she asks.

I guess I was staring too long. And I'm not sure if I want to tell them what I saw. Then again, there going to see it anyway.

I glance at the door and say, "There's a Black Mage in there."

Dagger blinks in surprise. "What?"

"Yeah," I say, glancing at Vivi, whose eyes are wide with surprise. This is really weird, but hopefully what they think about it can wait. If we're gonna turn the ship around, I don't know how much longer we have before it goes too far off course for that.

I glance back at the door and say, "It saw me, but it didn't do anything, so maybe it will be easy to sneak past it." I look at them, and they agree. So, I push the door open all the way, and walk inside, the others following.

Once we're inside and Dagger shuts the door, we look at the Black Mage. He's over by the engine, adjusting something. But he doesn't show any sign that he heard us. Past him, I can see a ladder that leads up to the dock. That's where I have to go.

"Ok," I say, not taking my eyes off the Black Mage, "I'm gonna go up to the dock and turn the ship around. You guys stay here." I look at them, and Dagger nods. I look at Vivi, who's staring at the Black Mage. Poor guy. I don't have any idea what he's thinking, but it can't be good.

"Vivi," I say. He looks at me. "I'll be right back. Stay here with Dagger, ok?" This time, he nods, then looks back at the Black Mage. I frown sympathetically, then walk forward.

As I pass the Black Mage, he doesn't even turn to look at me. This is just too weird. If they were unconscious in the storage facility, what were they doing here? And, now that I think about it, why were they in those patched cloth things inside a machine? Why was Alexandria Castle in charge of all of this? What were they using them for? What was going on?

As I get to the ladder, I climb up it. I wonder how all of this is affecting Vivi. I mean, I know that no one has seen a Black Mage in years, and Vivi told me by the windmill that he doesn't remember his family. And then we ended up seeing a bunch of them on a conveyor belt, and there's one walking around a ship, acting like it can't see us. They've got to be the first Black Mages he's seen since he was separated from his family (whenever that was), and it can't be easy for him to see all of this. I just hope we can figure it out, and it won't upset Vivi.

I decide to leave the thoughts for later when I reach the top of the ladder. I open the metal hatch that's above me, and climb onto the dock.

The breeze rushes past me as I close the hatch. I cast a glance around to see that the ship is still in a steady flight, pretty close to a cliffside. I'm not sure where we are, but I doubt there's much time left for me to turn it around. I gotta do it now.

I turn my head to my left, and something catches my eye.

Well, what do you know. It's Steiner, on his hands and knees with his face away from me, making a bunch of sniffing sounds. So, he was still on the ship when it took off. So why the heck did he let them leave without Dagger? I don't know if it's a good idea for me to be anywhere near him without Dagger around, but maybe he won't kill me if I tell him that she's on the ship. I'm sure he's blubbering over her anyway.

I approach him, but keep my distance and say, "Hey, what are you doing?"

At my voice, he becomes stiff and the sniffing stops. His head looks forward, then he jumps to his feet and spins around.

"YOU!!!" he says with his eyes bugging out. Yeesh. I guess he thinks 'You' is my name. "What are you doing here!?"

I put my hands up in mock defense. "I just brought Dagger on the ship since you were about to leave her behind."

Steiner's eyes widen even more (if that's possible) with shock. "She… she is on the ship?" he asks.

"Yeah," I say folding my arms. "Why did you try to leave her behind?"

Steiner's shock leaves his face and is replaced with a 'How dare you!' look. He should know that that look isn't going to do anything to me. I've done plenty of things I 'shouldn't dare.'

"I did _not_ try to leave her behind!" Steiner yelled. "The ship's crew would not answer me when I asked if we could use it for transportation, and it took off!"

I pause at that. So, does that mean he asked the Black Mage? That would explain why. Or… is there more than one Black Mage aboard?

"Ok, whatever," I say, but not with annoyance. "She's on the ship, so you can calm down."

Steiner pauses, then a smile of triumph spreads across his face. "Ha! The ship is heading for Alexandria!" he says as if he couldn't wait to rub it in my face. "I have outsmarted you, and you will pay for what you have done when we get to Alexandria!" Without another word, he rushes past me, purposefully ramming into my shoulder with his metal one, and positions himself in front of the hatch. He folds his arms and looks at me with venom. "And you will not go anywhere near the Princess!"

I rub my shoulder briefly (cause he sure wasn't gentle with that ramming), then shrug. "Fine," I say simply, then turn and walk in the opposite direction. I guess that went pretty well. At least he didn't kill me.

As I walk forward, I see the captain's cabin ahead, where the ship's controls are. I'm surprised to see another Black Mage in front of the wheel. So, I guess there is more than one. And this one doesn't look like he knows I'm there either, even when I get really close to the window of the cabin. This is just weird. What is going on?

But I tell myself that I have to focus on getting the ship turned around, and walk through the cabin's opening.

Once I enter, I see that the mist engine is protruding from the floor on the left, obviously too tall for the room below. The Black Mage is at the steering wheel on the right. I watch him for a second, trying to think of how I'm going to get him to move, then walk over.

I look at him for a second, still surprised that he doesn't know I'm standing right next to him. He's just staring ahead, completely focused on steering the ship.

I pause, then say, "Uh… hey." I lift my hand a bit as if I'm gonna wave. He remains still and completely unaware that I'm there.

I sheepishly lower my hand. Well, that didn't work. Maybe if I ask him to move, he will.

"Hey, do you mind scooting over for a minute?" I try. He ignores me.

I frown. So, if these guys don't pay attention to the people around them, how do they get orders from people and know what to do?

Wait. That will probably work.

"Step aside," I say, using a somewhat commanding tone. The Black Mage becomes still, then releases the wheel and steps aside.

I blink. Ok… that was easy… and a little weird. But hey, now I can control the ship. And I better do it before we can't turn back.

I step forward and grab the wheel. I pause to look out the windows on either side of the ship. Let's see… If we're going to Alexandria, then the ship is heading northeast. Lindblum is the opposite way, on the southern peninsula. Guess I'll have to do a u-turn.

So, using both hands, I start whipping the wheel to the right, immediately changing the ship's course. It tilts to the side a bit at the sharp turn, but the ship is pretty sturdy, and within a few seconds it's completely turned around and headed for Lindblum. At the speed it's going, and the fact that it's a pretty small ship, it shouldn't take that long for us to get there.

Well, that is if Steiner doesn't kill me, considering that he's running straight for the cockpit screaming something to the top of his lungs. Obviously he's not happy that I turned the ship around, and he looks pretty homicidal. Guess I better think about some of my defensive skills since Dagger's not here to stop him. But I'm not going to give him the satisfaction that he scares me a little. I keep steering the ship like it's my job and let him come through the door.

Once he gets there, he stops a few feet away from me, looking back and forth at me and the steering wheel, and blubbering completely unintelligent phrases that I can't make out.

"You-whyare-whatthe-howdid-you-what-"

I roll my eyes as he stutters. It seems like he always has time to yell and prove that he has no brain (and currently no control over his tongue).

"Oh, I'm sorry," I say sarcastically, never taking my gaze off of the sky ahead, "I don't speak idiot."

His blubbering abruptly stops, and he finally yells an audible word, one that I've become pretty familiar with since I met him.

"YOU!!!"

Just then, I instinctively duck as I hear his metal foot come down next to me, releasing the steering wheel in the process. His fist flies over my head, and I jump back as he tries to swing at my face. But he must have put all of his energy into that punch, because he missed completely, swung in a full circle, then fell onto his iron behind.

I fold my arms and watch him with a small chuckle as his hand goes to his head. "Wow. You have about as much coordination as a Cactaur. Have you ever seen how easily those things fall over?"

Steiner removes his hand from his head and gives me a death glare (surprise surprise, right?), then jumps to his feet and proceeds to jump at me again.

But he stops and looks to his right. I do too as I hear a few footsteps. And I'm pretty surprised at what I see.

There's about five Black Mages walking into the cockpit. They surround me and Steiner and look at us blankly.

My eyes scan each of them. Uh… what are they doing? I didn't know there were that many of them on the ship. They must be upset that I changed the ship's course, or maybe they're mad that Steiner was making so much noise. Maybe both. But why are they suddenly reacting to us? Maybe they just don't notice anything around them unless it's affecting their job. Whoops. Hope I don't get my butt kicked for it.

But Steiner doesn't seem that worried. He does look a little surprised to see them reacting to us, but he decides to try and talk to them.

"I am truly sorry," he says, addressing each one. "I did not mean for this thief to interrupt your flight destination. I will take him into custody and put the ship back into its original direction." He sounds like he's talking to some people that were greatly offended and he's really sorry about it. Hmmm. I guess it doesn't matter to him that they don't understand a word he says. He just has to keep it all formal.

But before he can fulfill those promises, they turn away from us, and walk out of the cockpit. I watch with confusion. That was weird. Where are they going?

But as I look through the ship's front window to see why, my heart jumps into my throat. NOT good…

- - - - -

**Interlude **

Dagger stood there, occasionally glancing at Vivi and the larger Black Mage that walked around the room, looking at the mist engine and ignoring their presence completely. She hadn't said anything since Zidane left to turn the ship around. Her mind had been too preoccupied.

She kept thinking back to the Black Mages that they saw in the storage facility. The sight frightened her. What were they doing there? She had come across a few books on Black Mages, and knew that they hadn't lived on the Mist Continent for many years. No one knew where they went; they just kind of, disappeared. She was a little surprised the first time she saw Vivi, but she hadn't thought much into it then because there were so many other things going on. Now that she thought about it, it was strange that he had shown up seemingly out of nowhere when no one had seen a Black Mage in so long. It made her wonder where he came from and where the Black Mages had been.

But, it appeared that wherever they were, they were back; but not in good circumstances. She had no idea why they were all unconscious on a conveyor belt in a small town. And her mother was behind it. She had to be. The barrels she saw were from Alexandria Castle, she knew that for sure. And the two men said that the production being done in Dali was under the castle's orders.

But… why was her mother doing all of this? Did this have anything to do with the man she had seen at the castle so many times? What were they planning on doing with the mages? How did they find them? Why was all of this happening? It all scared her, especially since her mother was behind it all. The feeling made her stomach sick. What had once been a happy life living with her father and mother at the castle had spiraled into a world that included the death of her father, the appearance of a strange man, and a change in her mother that had seemingly erased all that had been kind in her. And it all happened in the course of one year.

Just then, the ship jerked, and it began to tilt. It made her jump slightly, as she had been pulled out of her deep thoughts. She managed to keep her balance as it stayed slanted for a few moments, then it became upright.

Dagger looked up at the ceiling. She guessed that Zidane managed to turn the ship around. She wasn't sure how he did it, but she hoped that he hadn't gotten himself in trouble doing it. He probably had to do something to the pilot. She knew he wouldn't hurt anyone, but she didn't know how he would handle something like this.

Well, she didn't want to stand around here forever. Maybe she should go check on him to make sure everything was alright and see how long it would take to get to Lindblum. Steiner probably wouldn't be happy.

Her eyes widened slightly. That's right. Steiner was probably still on the sip. She hadn't seen him yet, so he was probably on the deck with Zidane. He wouldn't be happy at all that Zidane had turned the ship around, and he might hurt him. She didn't want that to happen.

"Vivi," Dagger said. He looked at her, and she said, "Let's go up to the deck and check on Steiner and Zidane." He looked at her somewhat blankly and nodded. She nodded back, and they headed for the ladder.

On their way, Vivi watched the Black Mage ignore them as they passed. Dagger watched him for a minute, and felt her gut clench with guilt. She hadn't even thought about how all of this would make Vivi feel. How would he feel seeing all of these Black Mages like this? And her mother was behind whatever it was. It made her feel guilty.

Trying to tell herself that it wasn't her fault, and her entire reason for everything she was doing was to find out what was going on, she allowed Vivi to climb the ladder, then followed him.

When they reached the deck, the wind rustled against them as Dagger shut the hatch. She glanced around at the blue sky and mountains around them, then looked toward the cockpit.

Her eyes widened. She could see Zidane and Steiner in there, but there were a bunch of Black Mages there too. What were they doing? She hoped that they weren't in trouble.

But before she could go and see, she heard a sound behind her. She turned, and she felt like her heart stopped.

A tall monster, looking a lot like the Black Waltz, stood a few feet ahead of her and Vivi.

Dagger's jaw dropped, and a gasp of fear escaped her lips. The thing stood taller than the last monster, and had a long staff in its hand. Its yellow eyes pierced into her own, and a small cackle floated from its lips.

What were these things? According to the last one, they were sent by her mother to capture her. But why? Even if it was because the Queen wanted her back, why would she use such a frightening approach? Why would she send a monster to get her? Then again, her mother had started acting like talking to her daughter was a waste of time, so maybe she didn't care about how it would make her feel. But… if she didn't care, why would she use such drastic measures to get her back?

Instead of saying something, the monster took its gaze off of her and looked next to her at Vivi. Its eyes turned to a hateful frown, and it pointed its staff at him. Before either of them knew what it was doing, a shower of sparks erupted form the end of the weapon, and they engulfed Vivi, momentarily electrifying his body. He yelped, and fell onto his backside after the sparks faded.

"Vivi!" Dagger shouted, kneeling next to him and putting her hands on his shoulders. He had his head on his head and he was looking at the floor. "Are you ok?"

She didn't get an answer as the monster started to speak. "So, the first two were defeated by this pitiful creature?" It cackled with amusement. "How quaint." Its eyes returned to a hateful frown, and it said, "Princess, stand back and wait as I dispose of this pitiful child."

Dagger's eyes widened, and she tried to prepare herself to do something. She wasn't going to let that thing hurt Vivi. Why would her mother send a monster to capture her, and have no care as to who it killed?

But before the monster could attack, its eyes averted from them, and looked behind them. Dagger stole a glance to see what it was. She almost started with shock as she saw the Black Mages from the cockpit approaching them. Were they going to attack them?

But they walked right past dagger and Vivi, and put themselves between the two and the monster. They glanced at Vivi, then faced the monster.

The monster's eyes filled with anger. "What is this rabble!?" it demanded. It swung its staff. "Get out of the way immediately!" But the mages didn't budge.

Dagger had no idea what was going on, but she decided to take the chance to get away. Not sure if Vivi could walk, she tightened her grip on his shoulders, gathering his shirt in her fists, and dragged him backwards. Although she wasn't very strong, he was small and it was pretty easy to pull him back.

- - - - -

What the heck is going on!?

I watch the things unfold in front of me with utter shock and disbelief. Another one of those monsters is out there, and Dagger and Vivi are right in front of it! And the stupid jerk just attacked Vivi!

As I prepare myself to run out and help, the Black Mages turn from us and walk out of the cockpit. I pause long enough to see what they're doing. They walk straight for the others, and face the monster, putting themselves in front of Dagger and Vivi.

I blink. Are they… helping them? Maybe they're just mad that the monster is there, and they think it's disrupting their orders. But either way, I'm glad they look like they're gonna protect Dagger and Vivi.

As the monster starts saying something to the mages, Dagger starts dragging Vivi back. When they get about halfway, he gets up and they both hurry over to the cockpit. When they enter, Steiner is the first to talk.

"Princess! Mater Vivi! Are you alright!?' he asks, practically blocking their way in.

"We're ok," Dagger says, glancing at Vivi. He nods a couple of times, letting us know he's ok. She looks up at me and momentarily looks me up and down. At first I'm not sure why, but then I figure that she wanted to make sure Steiner didn't do anything to me. Wow. Even during something like this she cares enough to see if I'm ok. Surprising.

Just then, we're all ripped from our thoughts, and our heads turn in unison toward the monster and mages as we hear an explosion. The monster's glowing with some kind of red light, and he's shooting a bunch of lightning bolts onto the Black Mages. The force is so powerful that they're all thrown backwards, slamming into the front of the cockpit and shattering the glass. My first instinct is to grab Dagger and Vivi and drag them behind me, shielding them from the flying glass. I huddle them close together and keep my back facing the window. A few shards hit my back and my head, but I don't feel anything cut me.

Just then, we hear a kind of electric hissing to our left, and we look. The barrels strapped to the side of the ship are being hit by the monster's electric attack, and it's too much for the wood. The burst open and the contents spill out and fall through the sky…

Black Mages.

We all stare in shock. The barrels were holding Black Mages. They look like the ones form the storage area, their eyes not visible against their faces. Now they're plummeting toward the ground. So, the village did something with the Black Mages and they put them in boxes and ship them to Alexandria on this ship. That's why those guys put Vivi in a box, and why they were surprised to see him moving. They probably never saw one conscious.

But… what is all of this for? Why is the castle doing this? What do they want to mages for?

The attacks stop, and the area goes silent. We all turn our heads and see only the monster standing on what's left of the deck, a little closer to the cockpit. It looks at us, then glances around a bit.

Now what are we supposed to do? There's another monster here, clearly to get Dagger, and it just proved that it has more power than the other two. How are we gonna fight that thing? We're in trouble.

Before I can think any further into it, I feel Vivi rip away from my hand and run out of the cockpit, screaming angrily. Dagger and I turn and watch in horror. What is he doing!? That thing is gonna kill him!

"Master Vivi! Wait!" Steiner calls, following him immediately. Crap. I guess there's no time for any type of battle plan. We're just gonna have to fight. But I don't want Dagger to fight. The thing is here to get her and, even thought it probably won't hurt her, the thing is psychotic. It might hurt her by accident. And I know what she can do while we fight.

I turn to her and see that she's watching the monster and the others with a panic stricken look. But I don't have time to say anything about it. "Dagger." She looks at me wordlessly. I try to keep my voice calm and be as clear as I can. "I'm gonna go help them fight the Black Waltz. You steer the ship." I gently grab her arm and lead her to the steering wheel. I point past the battle that's about to start and say, "The South Gate for airships is just ahead. Just steer us through and try not to crash." I look at her. "Can you do it?"

She pauses, then looks at me. Her eyes look so disturbed and scared. Obviously, all of this is taking a big toll on her. I don't think she ever thought she'd see anything like this. But we can't waste time.

"Dagger, can you do it?" I ask again, but not unkindly. She hesitates, then nods. I nod back, then rip out my daggers and turn around.

"Be careful," I hear her say desperately behind me. I pause long enough to say, "I will," then run out to join the others.

As I near them, I hear that some kind of conversation has started. Maybe they're trying to talk to it so they won't have to fight.

"Why would you attack them like that!?" I heard Vivi asked desperately. He sounded so angry and so scared.

The Black Waltz glared at Vivi with venom. "They are no concern of mine! They were in my way, and they are easily replaced!"

"You're despicable!" Steiner says, drawing his sword. I reach them and stand next to Vivi, weapons at the ready.

The monster cackles grittily. "Your words mean nothing to me," it says. "I am here to retrieve Princess Garnet, and I will destroy all who get in my way!"

It lifts its staff, and a red glow forms around the tip.

Showtime.

It lowers the staff and shoots a blast of fire at Vivi. In the same second, Vivi's shot his own fire spell. The two spells meet in midair, and dissipate as they touch. The monster roars angrily, and prepares a thunder spell.

As Vivi tries to focus another spell, Steiner leaps forward to defend him. Just as he does, the Black Waltz turns on him and shoots the lightning bolts at him. They engulf him and he stops in his tracks, screaming as it courses through his body. He's covered in metal. That _had_ to hurt.

Vivi manages to prepare a fire spell, and shoots it at the monster. It stops its attack on Steiner, and swats the fire with the end of its staff, making it disappear as if it was never there.

As I watch these attacks quickly unfold, I wrack my brain for a way to stop this thing. Steiner's on his knees, still recovering from the attack, and Vivi's trying to get another spell ready, and the monster's already got one pointed at him. I got to try to think of a way to trick him or something.

And hey, it didn't take me long to think of one.

I spin my daggers and shout, "Hey ugly!" The monster's head whips toward me and it hesitates its attack. I stick my tongue out at it and say, "I bet you can't get me!" The monster's eyes flash angrily. To an onlooker, they'd think I was on some kind of suicide mission. But I know what I'm doing.

Enraged, the monster turns to me and points it staff at me, and shoots a thunder spell.

But I'm ready for the stupid sucker.

I leap forward into a rolling somersault, and the attack just barely misses hitting my back. At the same time I finish the roll and lift onto my feet, I whip one of my daggers at the monster. It didn't notice in time, and it buried itself into its shoulder. Alright! Got it!

The monster shrieks in surprise and pain, and reaches for my weapon, forcefully ripping it out. Luckily, what I hoped for happened. The distraction gave Vivi enough time to power up a stronger fire spell, and he shot it right in the face. The monster drops my weapon and clutches its face with both hands.

And it must have been powerful enough, because it screams a little longer, then it lifts itself onto its black wings, and flies off.

I sigh with relief as I watch it go. Although the battles against these things have gone pretty fast, there have been way to many close calls.

I turn my head to check on the others. Steiner's on his feet, shaking his head a bit. He looks fine. I look at Vivi. He's lowered his weapon, and he's looking in the direction the monster left with a bit of a blank look.

I frown sympathetically, then retrieve my other weapon. I take a second to clean it with a bandage, then sheathe them. I hope this stuff hasn't been too much for Vivi. Who am I kidding? Seeing the other Black Mages like that, then seeing them get killed couldn't have been easy. And we still don't know why any of this is happening.

"How many of these monstrosities are there!?" Steiner erupted. Yeesh. He can recover fast. Or he's just never too tired to yell. Yeah, I think it's the latter.

"I don't think there's any more," I say. He looks at me and demands, "How would you know!?"

I shrug. "I don't. But I mean, come on. Three is usually the last thing isn't it?" He looks at me completely dumbfounded. I hide a chuckle, although I can't blame him this time. I don't even know what the heck I was saying. I just wanted him to shut up. And giving him something that _I _don't even understand should sure keep him busy.

Well, now that the monster's gone, we gotta make sure that the ship will get to Lindblum. I turn to look at the cockpit and see Dagger holding the wheel, her gaze on all of us, a look of slight fear and relief. At least she's ok, and she seems to be doing fine steering the ship.

I glance at Steiner (whose face is scrunched up in thought. I swear, I can see the wheels turning in his hollow head), then look at Vivi. He's just kind of staring into space. I feel bad for him. I don't know what he's thinking, but he must be pretty bothered by all of this.

I walk up to him and say, "Vivi?" He looks at me. It sounds like a stupid question, but I ask, "Are you ok?"

He hesitates, then nods. "Yeah, I'm ok."

I blink. He sounded really sincere. I'm sure all of this is bothering him, but he seems to be taking it well. He's pretty tough. I'm sure he'll want to talk about it later, but he seems like he's not ready.

I nod, then turn and head over to the cockpit (and I must have caused a breakdown in Steiner's brain, cause he doesn't even notice that I've left. Hope he's not dead).

Once I walk in, I approach Dagger. She looks at me, and her first question is, "Is everyone ok?"

I nod with a small, reassuring smile. "Yep. Everyone's fine." She looks relieved, then looks back ahead. I look at the destination. It's really hard to see from here, but I can see the airship South Gate some ways ahead.

"You doing ok?" I ask her. "Do you think you can steer us the rest of the way?" I don't doubt that she can, but I want to be sure. Since we don't have clearance, the gate might close, and that could be a problem. She nods with very little hesitation.

"Ok," I say. Hey, she's been doing good so far, and this is really her journey, so why not let her handle it?

Just then, I see Steiner come out of his little mind block, and look toward the cockpit. I'm not really sure what he's looking at it, but by the look on his face, I think he's looking at me. He starts running for us. Great. If he was looking at me then he's probably on his way over to kill me. Oh well. Dagger can handle him.

I remain calm as he comes barging in. But surprisingly, he ignores me completely and looks at Dagger saying desperately, "Princess, we must turn the ship around!"

Oh come on. Does he really have to do this now?

"The monster is heading straight for us on a small airship! We must get out of here!"

Oh crap. He wasn't looking at the cockpit. He must have seen something behind the ship. I rush to the door and peek my head out. And, sure enough, I can see a little ship racing toward us, the Black Waltz on board.

What are we supposed to do now!? Even though he's weakened form the battle, I'm sure he has enough power left to kill us.

I go back into the cockpit and look around, ignoring it as Steiner keeps begging Dagger to turn around. On her right, I see a power level sticking out of the floor. Well, that's what we're gonna have to do. Speed the thing up and get to South Gate before he gets to us. Our ship is too big to outmaneuver his little ship, so we just have to beat him to the gate. I rush over and thrust the lever to the max power.

"What are you doing!?" Steiner demands.

"Giving us more power for speed," I say as I feel the ship give a little jerk forward, increasing its speed. I look out the window and say, "We have shut him out of the gate, and we need to go faster for that." I don't hear Steiner argue, and I'm glad. It will make everything easier if he just keeps his mouth shut.

I look at Dagger. "Just keep the ship steady and watch the gate. There's a chance they'll close it since they're not expecting us." She looks at me and nods, then looks ahead. I know she can handle it.

I look back out the window. The gate is getting closer, and our speed has increased a lot. Hopefully we can get through before it closes if they do try.

But just then, a loud buzzing sound is heard over the wind that rushes through the bare windows. I whip my head to the left, and I'm just in time to see the Black Waltz and the little ship speed past us. It goes a ways ahead of our ship, then turns and heads straight for us. That's not good. I look down, and my eyes go wide. Vivi's still on the deck!

Without saying anything, I rush out the door to get him. But as I'm on my way, the Black Waltz has already shot a thunder spell at him. At the same time it hits him, he's countered with a fire spell that sends the small ship careening away, and falling behind. Vivi falls to the floor.

Once I reach him, I kneel down and say, "Vivi! Are you ok!?" He gets onto his hands and knees and nods without looking at me. He doesn't look hurt, just a little dazed. I pick him up onto his feet and start leading him to the cockpit.

When we're about halfway there, the ship slips into the first gate, shutting off some of the light around us. I look back to see that its already closing, and we barely managed to get through. I hope this thing goes fast enough to get through the other end before it shuts.

Just before the first gate closes, the Black Waltz sneaks through on his ship, just barely managing to get through before he was crushed. Shoot. That stupid thing got past the gate. What are we supposed to do if it passes the other end?

Just as Vivi and I reach the door to the cockpit, a thunder spell sparks around the Black Waltz's hand. I push Vivi into the cockpit, then follow right after him. I peek my head around long enough to see what the monster was doing.

And as I do, I see the thunder spell stream behind the Black Waltz, obviously caught by the gusting wind. It catches the back of his ship, and the thing sets on fire. The Black Waltz stops his attack, and looks behind him. It says something angrily that I can't hear, then looks ahead.

Just then, our ship slips through the second gate, and we fly off through the blue sky. Just before the gate closes behind us, I see the monster's ship crash into it, and the whole thing explodes.

Well… I guess that takes care of that.

I breathe a small sigh of relief, and turn to the others. They must have heard the explosion, because their all peaking out the window to look (Dagger's keeping her gaze ahead since she's steering the ship, but she glanced backwards a couple of times). Vivi just blinks, and looks a little shocked, but mostly impassive. Do I _have_ to say what Steiner is doing?

"Reckless! Stupid! What have we done!?"

Wow. At least he's saying we, and not 'YOU!'

I momentarily ignore him and walk over to the power lever. I turn it back down to a reasonable speed, and we continue to drift through the sky. The ship gives a bit of a shake, and I'm guessing that it wasn't built to go so fast for so long. But we should make it to Lindblum just fine. I look out the front of the ship and see the city some ways ahead. It shouldn't take that much longer to get there. We made it.

But not without another episode of Steiner's yelling.

"This is all _his_ fault!" I hear him yell behind me. I don't even have to turn around to know that he's looking straight at me. I turn to face him and fold my arms, letting him yell.

"If you hadn't altered the ship's course, none of this would have happened!" he said, waving a metal fist.

I tap my arm a couple of times with my finger out of slight irritation. "And, how has my actions caused what happened?"

He looks at me like I grew two heads. "Isn't it obvious you imbecile!? Because of your interference, South Gate has been badly damaged!"

"Steiner."

Whew. Dagger to the rescue.

Steiner closes his mouth and looks at her. She keeps her gaze ahead and says, "I am the one who wanted to go to Lindblum. The rest of you have only helped me. Anything that has happened during this journey is my own fault."

Steiner shakes his head. "Princess, you should not take the blame that rightfully belongs to a thief!"

"Steiner," Dagger says, looking at him and using a firmer tone, "Stop blaming Zidane. What has he done all this time that has hurt anyone?"

Steiner opens his mouth to retaliate, but he closes it. He does it a couple more times, then gives up. Wow. I never thought I'd see it, but after all of the times he's pointed fingers at me, he can't think of one thing I've done to hurt them. I know it's immature, but _In your face, Tin Man!_

Dagger seems satisfied, and looks at the path ahead.

I _really_ have to remember to thank her.

I look at Steiner as he looks at me, and gives an _'I still don't trust you and I'm watching your every move!' _look. Geez. I'm never gonna get this guy to trust me am I? Oh well. I guess he's just good at his job as a Royal Family knight.

The rest of the trip is quiet.

Once we reach the Falcon's Gate, I bring Vivi to the deck to show him the view (I asked if he was ok, and he said he was, so I guess he's dealing with anything he's thinking). Once it opens, the city's splendor is displayed vastly all around us. To put it simply, the castle is humongous, and the city is in the castle. But technically, the actual entrance and Regent's Chambers are placed right in the middle. The castle acts as the walls that surround the city, and there are three districts circling it. There's an occasional small airship floating around, and the cable cars are usually in motion (the things that take you to the different districts. Walking isn't the best time saver). Since I've lived here for so long, the view doesn't fascinate me as much as it would to a first timer, but all the same, it never gets old.

We easily get to the indoor airship dock, conveniently placed in the entrance to the castle. After Dagger parked the ship (she didn't know how to stop it, so I handled those controls while she steered) we all walk out and check out the interior.

And wow, it sure is big.

I've never been in the actual castle part of the town, and the entrance hall has one heck of a tall ceiling. It's adorned with marble floors and deep red rugs, stretching down the hall up ahead.

"My goodness!" Steiner says, looking up at the ceiling. "This castle is so vast!"

"Yeah, it sure is nice," I agree. Luckily, he doesn't look 'disgusted' that I replied to anything he said. Vivi's looking back and forth, his face plain with impression. But Dagger doesn't look that impressed.

"Have you been here before Dagger?" I ask.

She looks at me and says, "Yes. I used to visit regularly with my father when I was younger." She took her gaze off of me and stared at a spot on the ceiling. "He and Regent Cid were very close, and I came to know him as my uncle."

That's pretty cool. I didn't know she had such a close relationship with another royal family. Well, it wasn't that surprising, but I just didn't expect it.

I turn my head as I hear footsteps echo off the walls. There's a couple of guys coming our way, and I'm guessing they're guards, what with their funny looking uniforms.

They both stop a few feet away from us, holding their javelins upright in an official way. "Greetings," one of them says. "Please state your name and your business here."

Dagger steps forward, and stands with a royal posture. It makes you see nothing but her royalty, and everything she's done to try to hide it seems to melt away. Wow.

"I am Princess Garnet Til Alexandros, and I have come for an audience with Regent Cid."

So, that's why she wanted to come here. To see her uncle. She probably wanted to tell him about the barrels that she saw at her castle, but why would she go to him? Couldn't she just tell her mother? Actually, an idea that I hadn't even noticed before just hit me. If Alexandria Castle was behind the 'production' of the Black Mages, then didn't that mean that Dagger's mother was behind it? Is that why she ran and wanted to see her uncle? Something was going on there, and she didn't know what to do? Wow. That's scary.

Both guards look surprised and suspicious. "Why would a Princess come here on such an old airship, and with such company?" I think that's the proper way of saying, 'Filthy commoners.'

"Do you have proof of your royal heritage?" the other guard asks.

Dagger nods. "Yes, I do." She takes a step forward and displays the necklace she's wearing. That's the royal family heirloom? I noticed that she had it, but I didn't know it was so important. It's just a clear pendant, a few inches around in size, and shaped a little like a shell.

But it seems to be enough for the guard. His eyes bug out a bit and he says, "It looks like the Regent's Falcon Claw!" I'm guessing that's _his_ family heirloom. The guard turns to the other and says, "Call Minister Artania." The guard nods, and runs off down the hall. The other guard stays there and acts as if he's guarding the room.

And even now, Steiner has to get in my face. Is _nowhere_ a safe place from his mouth?

"They are only suspicious of us because you have the look of a common thief! Which you are!"

I roll my eyes and look at him. "Yeah, ok," I say with irritation, "And they have _no _doubt that you're a knight because your armor has enough rust to attract a can of 'Get this disgusting crap off of me!?'" Sure, I was exaggerating, but he was really ticking me off.

"Why you little-" he starts, taking a step toward me.

"Steiner, enough!" Dagger says without turning around. Steiner shoots me a venomous glare and backs away.

Luckily, that's when the guard came back with another guy. He looks middle aged, and had dark gray hair and a dark gray beard growing down to his chest. His face looked a little drawn and aged under his mustache, but his company seemed to give of a friendly feel. He approached Dagger with a smile.

"Hello, Garnet," he said warmly, bowing to her slightly.

Dagger smiled. "It's been a long time Uncle Artania." Hmmm. I guess her father was good friends with a lot of people.

Artania righted himself and said, "I would like to catch up with you Princess, but the Regent is waiting for you." He turned and said, "This way. Your friends are also welcome."

Dagger looks surprised at this comment. Actually, it surprises me too. If Dagger _ran away_ from Alexandria, then why was he _expecting_ her? She seems to momentarily let it go and follows him. The rest of us follow her.

We walk down a somewhat narrow hall, then emerge into a small entrance room with a path ahead, and a small statue and another path on the left. Artania takes the path ahead, so we follow him. After we get onto an elevator, we ride it for a few seconds and it opens at the top floor, where the Regent resides (as Artania said on the way up). He leads us down another hall, and into a room that has a double staircase, and double doors just ahead and at the top. He takes us up the stairs and goes through the doors.

As we walk into the throne room, Artania does a small bow to the throne. But there's no one sitting there. And it's really little. Can a full grown man really fit on that thing?

"Regent Cid, Princess Garnet is here to see you." He takes a step aside so that Dagger is in front of the throne. She looks at it quizzically, and I'm pretty sure she's thinking the same things I'm thinking: Where's the Regent, and why is that throne so small?

And wow, what happens next is weird.

Something sticks its head out from behind the throne, and looks at us, making a 'gwok' sound. It blinks, then steps out and walks forward.

It's an Oglop.

Wearing a red cape. And a long mustache.

What the heck is going on?

Then, my eyes bug out when the thing talks.

"Greetings!"

And, time for Steiner to have a heart attack.

"Wh-what is an Oglop doing here!?" he asks, plainly scared, but also sounding angry. He looks at Artania and demands, "Where is the Regent, and what is that thing doing here!?"

Artania doesn't look phased by Steiner's outburst. "This is Regent Cid."

Steiner looks ready to explode, but Dagger stops him. He remains silent, and she looks at the Oglop, as he gets on the throne and watches her.

She pauses, then says, "That mustache…" She frowns slightly. "Is it truly you Uncle Cid?"

Cid nods, and says, "Yes, Garnet. 'Gwok-Gwok.' It is good to see you again." His voice actually does sound like a man's voice, and his tone is warm.

That seems to be enough for Dagger, because she smiles a bit. But it doesn't last very long, and she asks, "What happened to you?"

The Regent's expression is saddened at this. I guess it wasn't a very happy story.

"Allow me to explain," Artania says, turning to us. "Six months ago, someone broke into the castle and attacked him in his sleep. But by the time our guards got there, he had been transformed into an Oglop, and his wife, Lady Hilda, was abducted."

Dagger's hands go to her mouth at this, and she gasps slightly. Steiner looks enraged, and Vivi's eyes go wide with shock. And I definitely sympathize. That must really be hard. But it's kinda hard to believe that someone could have broken into a castle that's always packed with guards, let alone get to the regent's room. Then again, the guys in Tantalus have pulled off some pretty surprising things. Not that I'm proud of that. Yeah. I don't want to think about that.

Regent Cid breaks the short silence in saying, "But that is in the past, and we are doing what we can about the matter." He pushes aside his emotions on the subject and smiles sincerely. "Right now, I would like to focus on the matters at hand."

That seemed to be Dagger's cue, so she said, "I am sorry to come here in such circumstances Uncle, but I need to speak to you about my mother."

The Regent nodded. "That's what I figured."

Dagger looks surprised again. But she doesn't say anything because he says, "But I'm sure it can wait until tomorrow. I'm sure you are all tired after your journey here." He gets off the throne and comes down the short steps. He stops in front of Dagger and smiles. Kinda weird seeing an Oglop with facial expressions. She smiles back.

Artania chimes in by saying, "It is time for lunch, and the Princess's guests are invited."

"Yes, yes," Cid says. "That sounds wonderful." He leads the way out of the room and the others follow.

I wait for a second and watch. Well, I guess we did it. We made it to Lindblum, and everything seems to be going well.

But there's a lot of suspicions going on in my head. Like, what the whole Black Mage and Alexandria thing is about. Obviously, Dagger's mother is behind it. And if Dagger couldn't talk to her about it, and had to go as far as running away to Lindblum, then something's going on, and it has to do with more than Black Mages. And I'd like to know how Regent Cid knew she was coming.

But, I don't know if I'll ever get to find out. After the lunch invitation, I'm gonna go to the Tantalus hideout in Lindblum, and Dagger's not gonna need me anymore. Sure, I'm glad I was able to get her here, but she's not gonna have any more reason to see me. I'm gonna miss seeing her. It was really fun spending time with her, and I liked her company. It didn't feel like I was with a Princess. It felt like I was with a friend.

But, I tell myself that I knew this was coming. She's royalty, I'm a thief, and royalty don't have commoners as friends. Although I doubt Dagger would have a problem with it, I just don't think it's gonna happen. I sure am gonna miss her.

Trying not to let it get to me, I follow the others for the last little time we're gonna spend together.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Well, there's the chapter. I hope you enjoyed it, and every review I get makes me want to keep writing. Thanks._


	7. Chapter 7

_Hello there._

_Thanks a lot for reading this chapter. I am glad to know that someone is interested in this story. Although there haven't been many reviews, the quality of the ones I've received have been keeping me going. Thanks to all who have left one._

_Please enjoy this chapter._

- - - - - - - - - - -

Well, so much for spending a little time with Dagger before I leave.

We entered a dining hall where it was just me, Dagger, Vivi, Steiner, Artania, and Regent Cid. It was pretty nice, and the table in the middle of the room was packed with what looked like way too much food. I guess royalty gets to eat like that all the time.

But I didn't stay that long. Throughout the whole meal, Steiner kept giving me death looks, and it was starting to get uncomfortable. I hated to let the time be cut short because of him, but he was starting to freak me out. As soon as the meal was over, I excused myself, saying that I had something to do (and that was escape Steiner's wrath). Dagger seemed a little reluctant to let me leave. I guess she realized that it might be the last time we got to see each other. It felt pretty good to know that she thought of me as a friend. But I just said I had to go and left. Vivi stayed there with them. Now, I'm walking down one of the streets of Lindblum. Although I was going to go to the hideout, I just didn't feel like going there right now. I guess I was too afraid to see that no one was gonna be there, and that would make me think about the chance that they didn't make it. Not really something I wanted to deal with right then.

So, I happened to see a little restaurant on the side of the street that I've been in a few times, and went in. Of course, I wasn't hungry, but I figured it was a better place to be in then it was to keep wandering around.

Upon entering the small café, I saw a few people sitting at some of the few round tables, one at the bar, and the bartender behind the counter. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do here, other than avoid the hideout for a while, so I just stood there, folding my arms and looking down.

I had more than one thing on my mind. One was the thing going on at Alexandria Castle, and if Cid would do anything about it when Dagger talked to him. And just exactly why Queen Brahne was doing all of this. I wondered what the Black Mages were for, where they had been in the years that no one saw them, and why they were being used like… puppets. It just wasn't right.

Another thing was how Vivi was taking it all. I had no idea how he ended up being adopted by his grandfather, and where he had been before and during that time. And, I wondered how he was dealing with seeing all of the Black Mages in the states they were in. He seemed to be keeping the feelings inside mostly, but I doubted that he was ignoring them. Maybe he didn't really want to talk about them. And I wondered what he planned on doing now. He just kind of came along with us on the little journey because he seemed like he didn't have anywhere else to go. Not that I would have left him behind anyway. But what did he plan on doing now?

The other thing was Dagger. I wasn't sure exactly what my thoughts on her were. Sure, I wondered if everything would go well with her uncle, and if they'd figure out the reason for all of these weird things. But… I think she was mostly on my mind because I was a little worried about her. None of this seemed very easy for her, although she didn't always show it. And I couldn't get rid of the reminder that I wouldn't get to see her again. I'd met people and never saw them again. Why was she any different?

Because she _was _different. She was a princess, on a mission to find out what her mother was doing. She was putting herself in great danger to get to Lindblum, considering that she was going to let herself be snatched by complete strangers just to get there. But she didn't act that much like a princess. Sure, she had the air of one, and she spoke like one. But… she wasn't arrogant or demanding. She was understanding, and treated those with a lower status then herself like equals. She treated me like a friend, although she barely knew me. Even when Steiner kept trying to tell her that I was just a common thief that couldn't be trusted, she ignored him, and had trust in my actions. And… there was something about that that I just couldn't get over. I couldn't believe that someone royal could consider someone like me a friend. It just proved that she looked past status and appearance, and trusted the character of a person. That wasn't something I ever expected to find in royalty. Ever.

"Sir?"

I looked up when I heard a voice over the small conversations in the room. As I looked up, I saw a waitress, holding a tray in one hand, looking at me quizzically.

I blinked. "Yeah?" I didn't know why she was looking at me like that.

"You're in her way, monkey-tail," a voice said from the counter. "She's been trying to get your attention for a whole thirty seconds, slow-mo." I looked, and saw the red-uniformed person sitting there. Her gaze was on the drink in her hand, but I'm pretty sure she was talking to me. And her tone was kind of rude. _And_ she insulted my tail. Although Blank liked to do that, it really set me off when strangers liked to do it. What business did they have insulting me like that, especially when none of this was their business?

"Well, excuse me," I said, finding it hard to block my irritation. I stepped aside to let the waitress through, and kept my gaze on the person at the counter (Which, although I couldn't see her face, I could tell by looking at her that she was a Burmecian. You know, they look like human rats, kinda like the Canigans look like dog people).

Wait. Burmecians have tails!

"And thanks for insulting my tail, considering that you have one too," I challenged, facing the person with a look of annoyance. Maybe she wouldn't be so quick to insult something that she has too (Sure, hers didn't look like mine. It was thinner and a different color. But all the same, why do it when you have one too?).

Instead, all I heard was an amused grunt. What was so funny? I wasn't trying to be funny (for once). I was about to say something else, until she turned on her spinning stool and looked at me. My eyes widened a bit.

"Long time, Zidane," she said, a genuine smile on her face.

It was Freya. I met her when I was thirteen, when she came from Burmecia for the Festival of The Hunt. I happened to meet her afterwards, and we talked for a while. Apparently, she left Burmecia because she wanted to get away for a while. She didn't tell me why until we got to know each other better. She lived in Lindblum for a little while, then left in search of her boyfriend Fratley (which I found out was why she left Burmecia in the first place. She left to find him, but she decided to unwind with some competition, and she wanted to settle for a while). That was three years ago. I'm surprised she recognized me. Then again, it's hard to forget the only tailed person known to anyone anywhere currently.

I was actually happy to see her. I hadn't heard from her since she left, and I missed the friendship we had. I was anxious to catch up and see how she was doing.

But she decided to start our little meeting with an insult, so I decided to retaliate. Sure, sometimes that kind of humor was her, but she knew my humor too. And now that I wasn't ticked off, I was in the mood for a joke.

I looked at her with fake confusion. "And, you are?" I said, with genuine cluelessness. I kept some of my irritation in my voice so she would really think that I was still mad and I didn't know who she was. This is fun.

She looked at me, perplexed. "Don't you remember who I am?"

Sucker.

I let my tail flick behind me, as if it was mirroring my irritation, and said dryly, "Nope."

Freya's eyebrows creased with annoyance. But she also looked hurt by my forgetfulness. I started to feel bad, but hey, if she got to have her fun, so did I.

She tapped one of her long fingers on the counter momentarily before saying, "The Zidane I remember doesn't forget his friends."

Ok, I think that was enough. I don't want to tick her off.

I smiled mischievously, and wiped away any sign of my 'anger.' "Well, I haven't. But you should know how much I like jokes." I smiled stupidly.

Freya rolled her eyes and turned back to the counter. She looked mad, but I could see the corner of her mouth upturning into a genuine smile. "You haven't changed a bit."

I unfold my arms and walk over to the counter, still smiling with amusement. "Well, neither have you." I took the stool next to her and looked at her face. She looked at me. "You're still not very good at greeting friends nicely."

She snorted, and looked at her drink. "You weren't any better," she said with fake irritation.

I smirked. "You started it."

She grunted. "Yeah, I guess I did."

Ok, time to put joking aside. I really want to know where's she's been and what she's been doing. But hey, it was fun starting our conversation with humor. We tended to do that three years ago anyway.

Putting all joking aside, I said, "So, what have you been up to?" I was actually more excited to see her than I was letting on. But I didn't want to give her a hug or anything until we talked a little. Plus, if I remember right, she didn't usually like being hugged. But I would do it anyway. Cause that was just me.

She focused her gaze on her drink as she swirled the liquid in the glass. "Wasting time."

I nod. "Uh-huh." I paused, then said, "In other words, you were looking for your boyfriend, and you never found him?" I didn't mean to be so blunt, but sometimes you kinda had to be blunt with Freya. That is, unless she changed during her travels. But I doubt she did that much, considering the way she greeted me.

She sipped her drink. "Basically."

I tapped the counter a couple of times with a finger. That must be tough. Sure, I could only sympathize, but I could tell, even when I was thirteen, how much she missed this guy, and how much she wanted to find him. Apparently, he left because he thought that the only way to protect Burmecia, and Freya, was to learn more about the swordsmanship of other countries, just in case they ever had a battle. He promised he'd be back. But after all those years, he never did.

"Well, don't let it get you down," I said, giving her a light pat on the back. "You'll find him."

Freya paused, then a small smile spread across her lips. "You really haven't changed." I smiled back.

There was a short pause, then she turned to me, putting on a happier face (at least what was happier for Freya) and asked, "Well, enough about me. What have you been doing?"

I let a small sigh escape my lips as my eyes widened slightly. "You wouldn't believe it," I said.

She smirked. "Try me."

So, I went on to tell her everything that happened; the Boss doing a favor for a friend that included kidnapping the Princess of Alexandria, Garnet, how we escaped from Evil Forest, how it petrified with possibly all of the Tantalus guys inside, traveling to Dali, teaching Dagger how to act like a commoner, and getting to Lindblum. I even let her know the things that happened with the Black Mages. Heck, I couldn't figure out what was up with it all, so I thought she might.

Freya paused, her brow creased slightly in thought. "So… you don't know why Queen Brahne is 'producing' these Black Mages."

I shook my head. "Nope."

"And that's why the Princess left and came here? To talk to Regent Cid about it?"

"Yeah, basically."

Freya averted her gaze momentarily. "Hmmm. Well, whatever this is can't be good. I don't know what the Queen would want, but I don't think she would be kidnapping and brainwashing Back Mages just so they could run her airships."

I blinked. "Brainwashing?"

Freya looked at me and nodded. "You said that the mages had no idea of your presence on the ship, and only responded when you gave them an order. She must be using some kind of magic to alter their minds."

Wow. I don't think I really thought of that before. I was just trying to figure out how they suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and what the Queen wanted with them.

I looked to the side momentarily, then looked at her and said, "Is it something to worry about?"

"Well, only time will tell," Freya said. "If Princess Garnet is successful in her mission to get behind all of this, and the Regent helps her, perhaps anything that the Queen was planning can be avoided."

I nodded. Well, I certainly hope that would work. Queen Brahne had to be planning something big if she had that many Black Mages, but Dagger came here because she believed that regent Cid could help. Maybe after talking to him, everything would work out.

I shrugged lightly, as if I thought there wasn't much point in talking about it anymore. "I guess we'll just have to see how things work out with Dagger." Well, I said that, but how the heck was I supposed to hear how it went? I wasn't gonna be able to see her anymore. Once things worked out with her mother, she'd probably go back to Alexandria. Then, if the Boss and the others were ok, I'd end up going back to the norm. Well, at least my norm. That didn't sound pleasant.

Freya ordered another drink from the bartender, then looked at me. "The Princess picked that name?" she asked.

"Huh?" I said. I was thinking too much again, and I didn't hear her.

Freya rolled her eyes as if annoyed, but I knew better. "Princess Garnet. She chose the name Dagger?"

"Oh. Yeah," I said. "And really quick too." I didn't notice how much admiration entered my voice. "You should have seen how smart she was. She picked that name up in like, a second, and she dumped noble speech overnight." I raised a finger. "_And_, she can use White Magic." I lowered my finger and shrugged a bit. "Well, she's not very experienced, but she was really helpful a couple of times."

Freya smiled and snorted. The bartender gave her the drink, and she wrapped her long fingers around the glass and smiled into the liquid. "Someone sounds awfully impressed."

I shrugged my hands and said, "Well, wouldn't you find all of that impressive?"

She sipped her drink and said, "Never mind."

I smirked. "Oh come on. You got something to say, say it."

Freya simply smiled slyly, and shook her head. "You'll figure it out yourself."

I gave her a light push on the shoulder. "I'll get it out of you eventually," I teased.

She shook her head, smiling at my little game. "You won't need to."

I lifted my eyebrows. "Oh really?" I put up my dukes in a mocking fighting way. "Want me to beat it out of you?"

She snorted with real amusement this time, and looked at me. "You really think you can take me?"

I lowered my fists and said in a matter-of-fact way, "I've gotten a lot better at fighting since the last time we talked."

"Hm," Freya said, looking back at her drink. "Well, I'll have to take up your challenge another time."

"Why?"

"I want to save my energy for the Festival of the Hunt."

I smirked and rolled my eyes. "That's two days away. As if you're not going to train within that time." I gave her a goofy kind of challenging look. "That's not true."

She shrugged her shoulders and looked at me. "Ok, you want the truth?" I nodded.

Her mouth upturned into a half smirk. "I really am going to enter the Festival of the Hunt, but I don't want to fight you because I'd rather save you the humiliation." The half smirk turned into a full one.

I rolled my eyes and turned my stool toward the counter, but I couldn't hide my smile. "We'll just see who gets humiliated next time we fight."

She sipped her drink. "I guess we will."

We left the talking at that.

After a little while, it started to get late, and I decided to find a place to stay for the night. I said goodbye to Freya (and gave her an enthusiastic hug that she acted like she didn't like) and left the restaurant. As I walked, I decided that I didn't want to go back to the hideout yet. Even if everyone was ok, they wouldn't have made it back to Lindblum yet, and I didn't want to spend the night alone. Well, I would be spending the night alone anyway, but I just didn't want to do it there. And going there to see that no one was there just wasn't really something I could handle right now. I know, I was procrastinating. But I couldn't help it.

I rented a room in a nearby hotel, and I settled down on the bed for the night. I lay on one of the beds, my hands behind my head as I stared up at the dark ceiling.

And when I do that, I tend to think a lot.

And who could blame me? I had a lot of stuff on my mind. Like, what would happen when Dagger talked to Regent Cid. I wondered if everything would go ok, and Dagger would be able to go back to Alexandria and get things back to normal. It didn't seem like it would be that easy, considering what Queen Brahne had been doing. I doubt that something as simple as a talk would be enough to calm things down over there. I mean, come on; she's been messing with Black Mages. What would she want all of them for? And there had to be something worse going on, considering the way Dagger was talking about her concerns. I didn't get the full story, but if her mother was behind all of it, and she had to run away to see her Uncle about it, then there was no way that a conversation would be all it took to settle things. Something was gonna happen. I just didn't know what.

And I still didn't know what happened to the rest of Tantalus. If they did make it out, who knows how long it would take them to get back here? How long would I have to wait? And sure, I would be happy to see that they were ok, but… I left the band again. And this time, I didn't know if I wanted to go back. Sure, I said I always went back because they were all I had. But I was sick of being a thief. I always hated it. And if I went back, it would go right back to the old routine of 'Do what the Boss says, or get a beating.' I couldn't stand that anymore. No matter the fact that he and the other guys were the only thing I had that could be called a family. It would take some getting used to, but I could try to find a way to live by myself. I managed to earn some money, instead of stealing it, and using that would be a start. Maybe I could explore another continent in an attempt to find out where I came from. There were so many questions as to where I came from, and how I got here. There were no other tailed people on this continent. Sure, I hadn't been everywhere here, but every race was known and mentioned, except mine. That was plain proof that none of them lived here. So, maybe there was a chance that they lived somewhere else. Maybe I could find them, and live there. Yeah, I know; fat chance that they were still anywhere, and fat chance that I'd ever find them. But it had to be better then life as a thief.

Ok, I _really_ hate it when I think so much. I do it way too much, and I just get myself depressed when I think about it all. When I think about the chances of any of it being or happening, I end up disheartened.

I rolled onto my side and curled my legs closer to my body. I just have to stop thinking about it. It makes me feel so helpless and small when I do. I hate that feeling. It's just not me. I never let things make me feel like I have no power to decide what I can do or change what's around me. I always feel that there's something I can do, no matter how important or insignificant. That's what made me feel like I could help Dagger. It was my responsibility, because I made it my own. I knew I had the power to help, and if I have the power to help anyone in any way, I'll do it.

I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind so I could fall asleep. I just had to believe that things would turn out for the better, no matter how they looked. And hey, maybe the chances of finding more people like me were higher than I thought. After all, I never thought there was _any_ chance that a princess would treat me like anything other than a thief, let alone an equal. Dagger made me feel like… I was her friend.

I guess you can't base everything on chance.

- - - - -

**Interlude **

Dagger pulled the silk blanket closer to her chin as she tried to find sleep. But her eyes remained open, staring blankly at the night sky out the window of her temporary room.

Her conversation with her Uncle Cid kept replaying in her mind. He had said that they could wait until the next day to talk, but decided to let her discuss the problem that day, seeing as she was so concerned about it. She was relieved that he listened to everything she said, and considered every word. It felt so wonderful to finally confide in someone who would listen about the problems that had been going on in Alexandria for so long. No one at her castle would listen, and she was thankful that her Uncle did otherwise.

But, no matter how much he listened, and how he tried to reassure her with his words, she was not comforted with his answers.

_Dagger stared at her gloved hands as she sat at the table in the Lindblum Castle Conference Room. Her chair was positioned next to the head of the table, where Regent Cid sat. He watched her with an unwavering gaze, waiting patiently for her to begin._

_But she didn't know here to start. There were so many things to say, and she wanted to be clear with her concerns. They were important, and she knew the goings on in Alexandria could have an effect on the entire country._

_Finally, she looked up at her Uncle, and said, "There… There have been many things going on at the castle that cannot be ignored."_

_Cid nodded. "And they involve the Queen," he said._

_Dagger nodded. "Yes." She paused. No matter how relieved she was that something could possibly be done about the things that had worried her for so many months, she felt nervous to continue. Whether it was her fear that her Uncle would be able to do anything, or that everything she had done would all be for naught, she wasn't sure. Or, maybe she was just afraid to hear herself admit what her mother was behind. She had admitted it to herself before, but hearing herself say the words would confirm her inner suspicions. She didn't want to believe that her mother was capable of any of this; that her kind heart had been somehow changed into something that no longer cared for the things she once held so dear. _

_But avoiding anything that could affect so many people was selfish, even if she herself didn't want to believe what she had seen at her castle over so many months. Never trying would lead to nothing. Doing what she could would be better than sitting back and fearing something that would eventually have to be faced in order to help so many people. That was why she was here in the first place._

_Finally, she looked at her Uncle, and started her explanation._

"_About nine months ago… three months after father died… a strange man showed up at the castle. He began requesting private audiences with my mother, and she granted them." She paused and looked away, knowing that the rest was what had been causing so many problems in Alexandria. "After the audience, my mother wouldn't speak to anyone for the rest of the day. Not even me. We thought that the man had upset her, but she informed us the next day that he would be back, and that it would be a private audience." _

_Dagger looked at her hands, watching her fingers over lace one another as she continued. "He came back a few times over the months, and every meeting was private. No one but the two were ever allowed in. Whenever someone asked my mother about it, she would simply say that it was her business."_

_Dagger paused, and swallowed the odd lump in her throat. "And soon… she began to change. She never talked to anyone unless it was about the routine needs of the town, and she became irritable and short fused. Our conversations became sparse, and whenever we did talk, she acted as if her mind was elsewhere, and talking to me was a waste of time." Dagger tried to ignore the pain in her chest as she remembered how her mother's negligence had made her feel. "She only seemed to care about the absolute needs of the town, and her meetings with this man."_

_Cid took a moment to ask a question. "Did you ever see this man?"_

_Dagger twiddled with her thumbs, avoiding eye contact with her uncle. "I caught a glimpse of him once, but their meetings were so discreet that he usually managed to get where he needed to in the castle without being seen."_

_Cid frowned a bit, then nodded. "Continue."_

_Dagger paused momentarily to make sure she hadn't missed any details, then said, "Then, about a month ago, I saw an airship arrive at the castle, carrying barrels with a green symbol. I never knew what was inside until recently, but I knew it couldn't be good._

"_I knew that there was something wrong. But when I tried to talk to some of the castle staff about it, they just said that I was worrying too much. It was as if they thought nothing of the sudden and vast change in my mother, and the appearance of the man. But I knew they thought something might be amiss. They just thought it out of their place to speak anything badly of the Queen. The only ones who didn't seem to take any opinion on the subject were Beatrix and her soldiers. They became a bit secretive along with my mother, and they were helping when the ship arrived with the barrels." She paused, still trying to make sense of all of the things she'd seen._

"_But, because no one would approach the matter of the strange things going on, I knew I needed help from someone else." She turned her head toward Cid, but didn't look him in the eye. "I thought, maybe you could talk to her and stop all of these things from happening." She looked back at her hands. "But she wouldn't allow me to leave the castle. But her reasons were always bland. I knew she didn't want me to leave the castle; I just didn't know why._

"_So, when I learned of the play to be held on my birthday, and that the ship and actors would be provided by Lindblum, I decided to sneak on board and come here. I knew it was risky and reckless, but it was all I could think of. I couldn't do anything if I just stayed there." Her eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion at her next words. "But… when I got on the ship, I met Zidane and asked him to kidnap me. And I found out later that he and the other crew members were sent there to capture me."_

_Cid looked at the table, and let a small sigh. He hesitated, then said, "I was the one who sent them to kidnap you."_

_For the first time since she began her narration, Dagger looked straight at her uncle, her eyes open in shock. It was him? Why?_

_Cid looked up and looked at Dagger. He began his explanation before she could ask any questions. " Gwok-Gwok I have known about the disturbances in Alexandria for some time. Our fourth Aerial Division noticed strange activity as it was patrolling the border by Alexandria. They reported a small cargo ship landing at the castle at odd times. But the ship wasn't accounted for in Alexandria's shipping record. And they noticed some strange activity among the guards; different posts, absences from nightly patrol, and less of them were seen guarding than should be. Although some would consider these things not worth any concern, I knew better. When a country begins acts that become secretive, it often means trouble. And I knew that whatever it was, Queen Brahne was behind it." He softened his tone, as he knew anything he said would affect Dagger. "I knew that something was wrong. Not just because of these things. But I also knew something was happening with your mother. I tried to contact the two of you, but found that she was refusing contact with any outer country. Although… I knew that the King's death had an affect on both of you, I knew it was something more. All of these things put together were not coincidence. I knew your mother was planning something, and it wasn't in the best of intentions." _

_He blinked and folded his tiny hands together, then said, "So, I knew that the first course of action would be too get you to a safe place. If the Gwok Queen was refusing all contact with other countries, then I knew you wouldn't be able to contact anyone, and you would be caught in the middle of whatever was going to happen. But with all contact with Alexandria out of commission, a request for a visit would be impossible. So, the only chance was undercover." He shook his head slightly. "I know that it might have been a frightening experience to use kidnapping as the resource of your safety, but it was the only way to get you out, and hide any evidence that Lindblum was behind it." He nodded with a little smile. "So, I asked a favor of my old friend, Baku. He agreed to take his men and pose as the Lindblum actors, and get you out of Alexandria."_

_He paused, and his face appeared slightly saddened. "But when the ship did not return that night, we feared that something had gone wrong. Then our Aerial Fleet confirmed an attack on the theater ship, and sight of it was lost after it left Alexandria. We did not receive word of it until the next day, and we could send no one to search for it. There were not enough resources in the fleet to send anyone after it, and they had no idea where it might have gone, so a search would have proven useless." _

_Dagger blinked. She had no idea that her Uncle had already know so much about the goings on. It actually made her feel relieved that someone else knew about it all, and something was being done. He knew about the disturbances, and his first priority was her safety. She would be forever grateful for it._

_Cid looked at Dagger with a small Gwok . "And I'm afraid that is all I know. I do not know how you managed to get here, and what happened to the ship and its crew. Would you please inform me on your journey here?"_

_Dagger nodded. "Of course." She paused to gather her thoughts and try to make sure she wouldn't forget anything important._

_So she went on to tell him that the ship crashed in Evil Forest, she was captured by a monster and rescued by Zidane, Steiner and Vivi, and the ship petrified upon their escape, leaving Zidane's friend behind, and possibly all of Tantalus. She explained how Zidane guided them to Dali, and the underground facility where Black Mages were being held. She mentioned the Black Waltzes that had been sent by her mother to capture her, their escape on the Cargo Ship, and their discovery of the Black Mages in the barrels._

_"Black Mages?" Cid asked. _

_Dagger nodded. "It was if they were being controlled… They never responded to our presence, as if they didn't know we were there. The only time they did was when they protected Vivi and I from another Black Waltz."_

_Cid looked at the table, his eyebrows furrowed in thought, and his small head shaking occasionally as he considered all f the things he had just heard. It was strange to hear the appearance of the long departed Black Mages, and the circumstances that they appeared in. The only explanation for it was an army; Queen Brahne was planning a battle of some kind, if not a war. But for what purpose? On what grounds? And where had she managed to find these Black Waltzes? Although it was plain that she wanted her daughter returned to the castle, why would she use monsters for her efforts? Clearly, something had taken a terrible turn in Queen Brahne's intentions. Something wasn't right, and it had to be approached soon, but with care._

_"Uncle Cid?"_

_Cid looked up to see Dagger looking at him with slight concern._

_Well, he knew that the circumstances were not looking good. Something worse than he had thought was going on, and it had more stakes than he originally calculated. But he would do his best for his country, and for Princess Garnet._

_He looked at Dagger, and tried to use honest words that wouldn't cause too much worry. "Well, these are things that we will need to approach carefully. With the information you have given me, I believe that your mother is planning on starting a war with these mages." He continued before Dagger could show any shock. "But, perhaps it can be avoided if we request an audience with her when South Gate is prepared, and we can get there by airship."_

_"But…" Dagger started, "If she is planning… a war, shouldn't we try to find a way to approach it sooner?"_

_"The fastest way to get to Alexandria is by airship, and the Queen won't carry out any of her plans with our airship fleet watching her. If all goes well, we should be able to speak to her, and find a way to prevent any of this from happening."_

_Dagger paused. Although she still had her worries, she nodded. She trusted her Uncle, and knew that he would keep his word. She would just have to wait._

_After the conversation, Cid brought her on a little tour of the airship dock. It was there that he told her the truth behind the attack that had transformed him into an Oglop. He admitted with sincere shame and regret that he had his eye on a woman at a pub in Lindblum, and when his wife learned of it, she changed him into an Oglop, and left in his latest airship model, 'Hilda Garde.' He used the abduction story as a cover-up for the people of Lindblum. He had long since regretted his actions, and only wanted to find his wife and make up for his wrong. But he didn't know if she would come back. He could only wait. The information was all surprising to Dagger, but she listened to him, as she knew he was just in need of someone to talk to. She didn't think differently of him, and only lent her ear, as was intended. After that, they had dinner in the conference hall, and Dagger was soon led to one of the guest rooms on the floor below the Regent's chambers for the night._

But it just felt as if it wasn't that simple. Would talking to her mother really be all it took to prevent any sort of war? Could things really go back to the way they had been after all that had happened?

But she tried to tell herself that her Uncle would know what to do. He had known about the disturbances in Alexandria before she even told him. True that she had information that he didn't have, but he was still aware of the changes.

But, although she was glad that someone with more knowledge on these things already knew about the goings on, it made her feel a bit… silly. She had worked hard to get here and tell Cid about the things happening at her castle, but he already knew most of it. And he had enough intellect to realize that it was important to get her out of there, even before she had decided to get out. She was glad that he knew what to do. But knowing that he knew so much when he watched from afar, and she barely knew anything when she was in the middle of it all made her feel like she was a step behind in it all. It made her wonder how she thought she could have done anything with such little knowledge. She just thought it would be a journey to warn her Uncle that her mother was hiding things, and that she thought something bad might happen. But it turned out that he already planned on getting her out, and he already knew that the Queen's intentions were much more dangerous than she had thought. She felt helpless, and like she hadn't known anything. And her decision to leave complicated her Uncle's plan. Because of her, the ship had crashed, and people possibly died. No… She couldn't think that way. She had no idea that they would be there to get her, and her choice to leave had been for her people. It wasn't her fault. She just had to let her Uncle handle it now.

She rolled over, facing the wall opposite the window, and closed her eyes. She just had to sleep and not worry about it. None of this was her fault.

Now that she thought about it, she now knew who sent Tantalus to get her. Zidane said he didn't know. Maybe she should tell him. But how would she? She guessed that she wouldn't get to see him again. After all, once things settled down, she would be able to go back to Alexandria, and he had a life here, didn't he? She would regret missing out on seeing him. He was a good friend, no matter how short their time had been together. Maybe she should try to see him one more time, to tell him about the kidnapping, and tell him how much she appreciated what he did for her. She owed him that at the very least.

But no matter how much was going on in her mind, the strange journey and long day had taken a big toll on her. After she cleared her head a bit, sleep came to her more easily than she thought.

- - - - -

_A shiver assaulted my spine as I stared at the darkness. I was so cold… and scared… where was I? What was happening? _

_I hugged my curled up form as my teeth shattered, keeping my eyes closed. I was soaked, and I could feel wet sand underneath me. But I didn't open my eyes. I was afraid of what I might see. I could barely think, I was so cold and confused. My mind couldn't process how I had gotten here. I didn't know were I was, or recall how I had gotten where I was. I felt a small splash of icy water lap against my feet. I shook at the frigidity. I didn't know if there was anyone around me. I couldn't feel or hear anything, except for the breeze that brushed against my wet clothes, only increasing my discomfort. I just wanted it to stop…_

"_Hey!"_

_I heard a deep voice call, almost like it was in a fog. My breath caught, and I became still. Did I imagine that?_

_"Hey! Are ya ok, kid?"_

_This time, the voice was a little louder and clearer. I didn't know who it could be, or if it was safe, but I felt great relief to know that there was someone here. Slowly, I opened my eyes, and turned my head toward the voice._

_The figure before me was blurred, so I blinked a few times. As it came into focus, I saw a large man looking down at me, his face contorted with confusion and concern._

_"Hey," he said, "I asked if ya were ok."_

_I blinked, and shivered again, partially out of fear. This man was big, and a stranger. But he was the only one around, and I was glad to see anyone with me._

_But I couldn't manage any words. My mind was still too clouded, and my body still racked with shivers. I just hugged myself closer, and lay my head down._

Just then, I felt big hands wrap around me and lift me. They held me against a broad chest, and I heard a voice mumble, "Kid should answer me when I ask him somethin'." I felt him shift, then begin steadily walking somewhere.

_But all I could pay attention to was the slight warmth that his body gave off, and how tired I was. I soon found myself asleep as the stranger carried me away._

I opened my eyes. My vision was greeted by a sunlit window.

With a small sigh, I rolled onto my back and ran a hand down my face. I guess I was dreaming again. I've had that one before too, but not recently. I don't know what set it off. I guess it's because Tantalus was one of the things I was thinking about before I fell asleep last night. Yeesh. Can I think of anything without making myself dream?

Oh well. That one wasn't so bad. Sure, it reminded me that I didn't know how I got here, but it also reminded me that Baku probably cared more than I think. It's easy to forget when he's teaching you to steal and giving you beatings when you don't listen. But that dream reminded me that he wasn't all bad. Heck, he could have left me there. But he didn't. And I'd always be grateful, no matter what.

But it didn't mean that I might not consider the other thing I thought about last night. Sure, Baku cared about me in his own weird way, but it didn't mean I had to stay with the band. He said himself that I could leave. And I just might. Maybe for good. I guess it depended on if I thought it would be worth going off and trying to find something better for myself.

But I could worry about all that later. First things first. I gotta stop procrastinating and go check the hideout.

So, I got up, had a little breakfast at the Inn, and left the building.

Once I stepped out, I gladly greeted the morning. It felt pretty good to be back in a familiar place. The streets were bustling with people, some on their daily routines, and some undoubtedly getting ready for the Festival of the Hunt tomorrow. It always got busier here during that time, so I would have to be prepared for a lot of commotion.

So, I headed over to the cable car so I could go to the Theater District. It was still pretty early, but I still hoped it wouldn't be too packed. After all, the cables cars were the transportation between districts, so they were almost always in motion. And I didn't like being jammed in a small space with a bunch of loud people.

After about a minute, I entered the small housing that held the cable car. There were a few people chatting in the corners of the room, and the car just parked ahead. I walked over as it opened and people started walking out.

As I made it to the doors and the last of the people exited, my eyes caught sight of a pointy hat. At the same time, I saw a pair of big yellow eyes look up at me.

I blinked with surprise. "Hi, Vivi," I said enthusiastically. I didn't expect to see him all of a sudden. Actually, I felt bad that I hadn't thought about him much since yesterday. I don't have any idea what the others did after I left the castle. I was too busy trying to make sure I could leave with my head intact.

Vivi blinked at me, looking equally surprised. "Hi, Zidane," he said brightly.

Well, time to see what he had been doing. I felt bad that I hadn't even thought about what he was going to do for the night. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "Did you stay at the castle last night?"

Vivi nodded, his surprise in our unexpected meeting gone. "Yeah." He paused as we both stepped aside to make room for some people who wanted to enter the car. "After you left, Regent Cid offered a room to me, and I accepted. I wasn't really sure where I would have gone anyway."

I scratched the back of my head a little guiltily. "Sorry about that. I should have thought about that before I left."

Vivi shook his head. "It's ok," he said sincerely. "I'm just glad that they were so nice to me." He looked at me with a bit of curiosity. "How come you left so fast? I bet they would have let you stay, too."

I lowered my hand and shrugged it. "Well, Steiner kept freaking me out with these death looks, and I thought it would be safer to steer clear as soon as I could."

Vivi blinked. "Oh. Right." He seemed a little confused on the subject. Probably because Steiner liked him so much, but he hated my guts.

I folded my arms and said, "Anyway, I was just gonna go check the Tantalus hideout. What were you doing?"

"I was gonna look around town," Vivi said. He watched a couple of people get in the car, then looked at me. "I've never been here before, and I thought it would be fun to explore."

"Oh. Well, you'll definitely have fun with that," I said honestly. "Just be careful," I warned with a bit of sarcasm. "City people are scary around the Festival of the Hunt. They run all over the place preparing for it, and it can get kinda dangerous."

Vivi frowned with confusion. "What's the Festival of the Hunt?"

"It's a hunting contest that's held here every year," I said. "They release monsters in the city, and contestants hunt them down for points. The one with the most at the end gets a reward, and the title of 'Master Hunter' until the next year."

I found it a bit funny as Vivi gulped. I guess something like that doesn't appeal to him. Then again, it doesn't surprise me. Although he did well in the battles we fought on our way here, he seems like he hasn't had much experience fighting.

"It sounds dangerous," he said.

"Well, it is," I said. "But it's a good way to test yourself in battle, and the reward isn't bad either."

A little of Vivi's fear disappeared, and he asked, "Have you ever entered it?"

"Nah," I said. "I never felt like I had enough battle experience to enter. Might've gotten killed."

Vivi's eyes widened, and he gulped again. "You can die?"

I lifted one of my hands in a shrugging way. "Yeah. They set real monsters loose, so it's a possibility. But it doesn't happen that often. People know that it's a serious contest, and you can't just enter on a whim."

He still looked a little freaked out, but I guess what I said reassured him a little.

I looked over at the cable car as another person entered it. It was already getting pretty full, so if I was gonna go, then I better do it before it gets too full.

I unfolded my arms and said, "Well unless you want me to go with you on your tour, I have to go." I would feel bad if I didn't at least offer. He's never been here before, and I live here, so I thought he might want someone who knows their way around.

Vivi took a moment to consider it, then shook his head. "No, it's ok. You can go to your hideout." He smiled a bit. "Thanks anyway."

"Ok," I said, having no problem with it. "I guess I'll see you later?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

I waved as I walked over to the cable car. Once I stepped in, the door closed, and the car rumbled as it began to pull away from the station.

Well, that was cool. I didn't feel bad anymore about leaving him at the castle, since he was allowed to stay, and he's doing fine. And his mood seemed pretty up, so I guess he hasn't been thinking about the black mage thing. Or maybe he's just good at dealing with things like that. Either way, I was glad to see that he wasn't the type to let things eat at him. Although, I know it had to be bothering him at least a little. It'll be nice when we can finally find out what's going on. That is, if Dagger was able to tell Cid everything, and he was going to do something about it. I still remembered what Freya said about brainwashing the Black Mages, and that she wouldn't be going through all that trouble for nothing. I just hoped that, no matter what it was, it could be avoided.

After a few minutes, the cable car stopped by the Theater District. I was glad to get off, considering the people on board were just as chatty and crammed together as I expected, and walked up the flight of stairs that led out of the housing.

As I entered the street, I felt a bit of relief to be back out in the open. There weren't as many people in the streets here, considering that most of the Festival shopping would be done in the Business District. I turned to the right, and walked the short way down before going down the slight of stairs that led to the lower part of the district.

As I got to the bottom and headed down the path that led to the hideout, I started to feel a bit nervous. I knew they wouldn't be there; there was no way they could have gotten back that fast if they got out of the forest. But I didn't want to go back and find it empty. It would just make me feel down, knowing that they weren't back, and reminding me that they might not have gotten out. But I couldn't just keep stalling. There was still a small chance that they were there. And even if they weren't, it didn't mean that they weren't ok. Like I told myself before, they've been in dangerous situations that they managed to survive.

Just ahead, I saw the tall clock tower that served as the Tantalus home. Well, at least it was where we would stay when we weren't traveling for a job (or, better known as a stealing expedition). Telling myself what I had thought on the way here, I walked inside.

The building was a bit run down, with a few odd floorboards, but it was in good shape. There were a few beds on the first floor, along with a large window on the wall opposite the door. The bell hung from the ceiling, and they were the only slight bother. The bell would ring at sunrise, at noon, and at sunset. But it was run by a mist machine, so the building was just considered an extra space. So no one thought anything of the fact that a group of people lived in it. It didn't really belong to anybody (except maybe the castle, but they weren't possessive of it). It was pretty much the only place in Lindblum we could live. The Boss didn't want to pay for a place, so we lived here. It wasn't all that bad, considering that we at least had a place to call home.

And, as expected, I found it void of anyone when I entered.

I looked back and forth, then scratched the back of my head with a little sigh. I knew they wouldn't be here. But just seeing it made me feel helpless. That's why I put off coming here.

I walked over to one of the walls and leaned my back against it, putting my hands in my pockets. Now I just ended up wondering if they were ok. Should I even bother waiting around to see if they were? Obviously, I did care, but I was still pretty set on staying out of the band this time. I think I've finally had enough of the life that the Boss has been making us live. I didn't want to steal anymore, and I didn't want to let him get away with making me. I knew that I would always be grateful that he took me in, but I couldn't do this lifestyle anymore. There had to be something better.

And I was gonna find it.

- - - - -

**Interlude**

Dagger sat on her bed, a sigh of boredom escaping her lips for the fourth time in an hour. According to her Uncle, it was necessary to keep her in her room because of the lack of security in the castle. Most of the guards were preparing the city for the Festival of the Hunt, so he said it wasn't safe for her to be wandering anywhere when she couldn't be protected. So, she had to stay in her room with one guard posted outside the door.

And although she understood her Uncle's reasoning for keeping her in her room, she felt more like she was confined in it.

And when she had to sit around with nothing to do, it made her think. A lot.

But she didn't want to think right now. The only things coming into her mind were thoughts of her mother, and how everything would go when they got to talk to her. Even after all Dagger had seen going on at the castle, and seeing that she had been using Black Mages for something unknown, she still couldn't believe that the Queen might be planning a war. What purpose would her mother have for that? No matter how the Queen had been acting lately, or how much she seemed to be less caring than she used to be, Dagger still believed that her mother was still inside the Queen somewhere. Perhaps a talk with Cid would bring that part of her back, and any kind of war that was being planned for any reason would be forgotten.

But no matter how it would turn out, Dagger couldn't find out until they got there. And right now, the waiting was driving her crazy. She hated sitting around doing nothing. Whenever she didn't have any duties to attend to in Alexandria, she was at least allowed to walk around the castle and converse with the staff, or read in the library. But just sitting in one place for so long wasn't what she enjoyed.

Deciding it was better to at least stretch her legs, Dagger stood up and walked to the other side of the room, stopping in front of the window. She looked down at the city below. And wow, was she ever high up. Sure, her room in Alexandria Castle was pretty far from the streets below, but the sight of how far the streets were here almost made her feel nauseous. Not that she was afraid of heights; she just wasn't used to being up _this_ high.

Well, staring out a window calculating how sick it made her feel felt like a waste of time. Maybe she could convince the guard outside her door that she would be fine if she just went on a short walk and promised to stay close to her room. Not very likely, but it was better than just sitting here. She turned around and walked over to the door.

As she reached it, she turned the handle and opened it a few inches. The guard outside stepped into the doorway, saluted her, and said, "Is there anything I can do for you, Princess?"

"Um…" she started. She felt so silly. She knew he wasn't at liberty to allow her out of the room when his orders were to guard the room. This was a waste of time.

Just then, another guard peeked around the corner at the end of the hall. He looked at the other guard and said, "Hey, they need your help over here."

The guard looked at Dagger momentarily, then looked at the other man and said, "Do they need it now? I can't leave my post."

The guard nodded a couple of times. "Yeah, don't worry about it. That Alexandria knight is almost done with his shift, and he's gonna come cover for you (Dagger knew they meant Steiner)."

The guard at the door nodded, then turned to Dagger and said, "Please stay in your room, Princess. Another guard will be here shortly." Dagger gave a small nod, then the guard ran down the hall, and they both disappeared around the corner. Dagger watched them go, then proceeded to shut her door.

But she stopped as she realized that there was no one here. She could leave if she wanted. She hesitated, as she knew it was reckless and might cause much worry, especially when Steiner came to guard her door. But she wasn't going to sit here all day. She'd be fine.

Feeling a slight guilt at the worry she would cause, but great relief in the freedom she was about to enjoy, she slipped out the door, shut it, and went down the hall that led to the elevator.

- - - - -

I forgot anything I was thinking about when I heard two sets of small footsteps over by the door. I turned my head, and was in time to see two little kids enter the hideout. They stopped, scanned the room, then rested their gazes on me.

I blinked. What were they doing here? They didn't look any older than six. One was a little boy with short brown hair and appeared a bit timid, and the other was a little girl with fraying red pigtails, and a curious, slightly bossy face. Well, they actually looked a little familiar, but hey, I've seen most of the people here, but it doesn't mean I can place them all.

The little boy pointed at me, his mouth upturning into a big smile. "There he is!"

And apparently, they know me too.

They both ran over to me and stopped in front of me, looking up at me with excited faces. I pushed myself away from the wall and removed my hands from my pockets. Ok… so, what do they want?

"So, how did the plan go?" the boy asked.

I blinked. "Huh?"

"Getting the Princess! You know. Princess Garnet?" the little girl said.

Then it clicked. I _have_ seen them before. They were talking to the Boss one day, saying that they wanted adventure. Then he told them they could join Tantalus if they found him some treasure. I didn't know if he was serious or if he just said it so they would go away. I was hoping it was the latter. I hated the thought of any more kids being brought into a life of stealing. Plus, these kids apparently weren't orphans like the rest of us, so there wasn't much point.

And, the Boss must have told them about our plan because he wanted to give them a thrill and make them feel like they were part of the band. Although it was a pretty stupid idea to tell little kids something so secret, the Boss wouldn't tell anybody anything if he thought they might tell somebody.

So, I folded my arms and said, "Yep. She's at Lindblum Castle."

The two kids exchanged an elated look before looking back at me. "Cool!" the little boy said.

The girl looked around. "So, where's Baku?" She looked at me and held her palm face up at me, beaming while saying, "We brought him some treasure!"

I looked at the small item in her hand. It was a small, silver necklace pendant in the shape of sparrow wings. It was a pretty popular jewelry, but it wasn't all that cheap either. I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt they could've gotten that without stealing it. The Boss probably told them it was ok to steal their treasure. If he's alive, I'm gonna kill him.

But I kept my comment to myself and didn't let my annoyance get to me, and looked at her, saying, "Well, he's not here right now, so you'll have to wait." I paused. "Where did you get that?"

I looked at the boy as he said, "We found it on the street!"

Oh. Well, that was a relief. At least they didn't steal it.

"Where is he?" the girl asked.

I wasn't about to explain, so I simply said, "He's not back yet, and I don't know when he'll be back."

"Oh," the girl said, closing her hand and letting it fall to her side. "Then we'll come back when he gets back!"

I felt like I wanted to tell them that they wouldn't enjoy joining Tantalus, but I stopped myself. The Boss wouldn't let them join. He wouldn't want to take in two small kids who still had parents. That would be considered kidnapping (Yeah, I know, he had no problem kidnapping Dagger, but that was for a friend. He wouldn't want to kidnap kids that he would have to take care of). So I wouldn't have to worry about it.

I was pulled out of my thoughts as the boy asked, "So, what's the Princess like?"

The girl beamed. "Yeah! Is she pretty?"

Well, I like this subject better. "Yeah. She's beautiful." I felt like I had to change the word 'pretty.' That just didn't do her justice. Heck, _beautiful_ didn't even say how gorgeous she was. But I didn't feel like letting two six year olds know how gorgeous I thought she was.

The girl clasped her hands together and said, "Awww! You like her, huh?"

I shrugged my hand. "Yeah. She's my friend."

The girl giggled. I didn't know why, and I didn't ask.

"Why don't you go see her?" she asked.

"Well," I started, "I don't think the guards would be very happy to see me waltzing in there and asking to see the Princess." Sure, Cid might not have a problem with it since I met him and he knew I helped Dagger get here, but I doubt the guards knew. To them, I would just be another visitor that couldn't go anywhere near her.

But the girl looked defiant in my answer. "But you just said you were her friend! They should let friends in!"

"It's not that easy," I said. I wasn't sure if I wanted to explain, but I didn't need to, because she started talking first.

"Well, you should go say hi to her at least. She probably misses you."

They seemed to be done with their little visit, because they suddenly turned and ran toward the door, and the boy shouted before they disappeared, "Let us know when Baku gets back!"

As I watched them go, I actually started considering what they said. Although I wouldn't be allowed in to see her, I had to admit that I did really want to talk to her. It would be nice to talk to her before she left, considering that I probably wouldn't get to see her again after that. And hey, guards shouldn't be a problem; I've snuck around plenty of things. That was the one thing I was glad I learned in Tantalus. And when I left the castle, Dagger looked like she realized the same thing I did; that we couldn't see each other anymore. I was glad that she felt that way since I did too. It was nice to know that there was royalty that saw friendship in commoners.

So, I walked over to the door and walked out, deciding to go see Dagger before she had to leave.

- - - - - - - - - -

_Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter._

_To the reviewer 'another nameless reviewer,' I just wanted to answer your questions. About making Dagger a little more bad, I'll take it into consideration. Although I have not altered her personality much, I will think about it. Unless you mean that you want me to make her like a jerk. I'd rather not do that. And as for Eiko being annoying, I couldn't agree with you more. I do like her, but she really gets on my nerves. I have more than one idea on how I am going to change her personality a bit, but I still haven't decided. Thanks for your interest._

_To 'rocketman367' I apologize for the lack of POV separation. I did separate them when I wrote it, but they didn't show up when I uploaded the document. It is now fixed._

_And thank you to all the people who have reviewed and read this story. Your interest, reviews, and my desire to write this story is what is keeping me going. Please continue the reviews, and if you have questions or comments, I will either respond to them here or through a private message._

_Thanks for reading, and please leave a review._

_Oh, and just so you know, Canigans is what I decided to call the people that look like dogs in the game. All it says when you talk to them is 'Dog Man' and I thought it would be better to have names for the species in this story. Just so you know._


	8. Chapter 8

_Hi._

_Thanks for checking out this chapter. And, I know that some people probably don't read author's notes, but I only leave them when I have something important to say, so I will greatly appreciate it if you read them._

_Enjoy the chapter._

- - - - - - - - - -

The cable car that brought me to the castle was empty. Well, obviously I was on it, but you know what I mean.

As I walked out and headed for the entrance, I didn't see any guards posted at the doors. But it wouldn't have mattered if there were anyway. Anyone was allowed on the middle floor. Access was only restricted to the top floor because the Regent lived there. I didn't know where Dagger would be, but she definitely spent the night in a guest room. So, I just had to find out where that was and see if I was allowed to see her.

As I entered the grand hall, I turned to the right and went down the hallway that led to the entrance room. Up ahead was the elevator, so I knew I couldn't go that way (unless Dagger was talking to her Uncle, she wouldn't be there). So, I guess that the rooms would be on the left, since that was the only other route.

Another large room was at the end of the hall. There was a door just ahead on the left, and a small flight of stairs that led down into a small resting area, and to another door. Since the one up here was closer, I went through.

And sure enough, the hallway before me held doors to rooms on the right side. It stretched about fifty feet down before hitting the wall on the other side. The walls were painted a dark maroon, and crimson carpeting covered the floor.

But what caught my eye was the knight that stood in front of one of the rooms about halfway down the hall, his face in his hands.

Steiner. I should have guessed he'd be here. What was his problem? Did something happen to Dagger? Nah. If something bad happened, he wouldn't just be standing there. So, should I go ask what was up? I'm sure anything he's upset about has something to do with Dagger. But if she wasn't here, should I risk going anywhere near him? I mean, if he's mad and it has something to do with Dagger, and I suddenly show up, wouldn't that be signing my own death certificate?

Oh well. I don't know if she's not there, and I can't be scared of him. It's no fun to let someone manipulate you like that.

With slight hesitation, I walked down the hall toward him.

When I was about halfway, he must have heard my footsteps, because he removed his hands from his face and looked at me. As I stopped a few feet away from him, I saw any emotion he had been feeling wipe away, and be replaced with his usual resentment to my presence.

I folded my arms and sighed, knowing exactly what he was going to say.

_YOU!!!_

"YOU!!!"

_What have you done with the Princess!?_

"What have you done with the Princess!?"

See? I didn't even know Dagger wasn't here, but his reaction to me and the look on his face made it so predictable. And I've only known the guy for a couple days. I doubt it's fun being that easy to read.

I tried to ignore his usual reaction to me, and asked, "What happened?"

Steiner's eyes bugged out and he said, "You should know, you _criminal!_" He pointed at me. "What have you done with her!?"

"Steiner," I said, trying not to show how much I was sick of this, "I've only been here for a couple of minutes. I didn't even know she was gone until you told me."

Steiner's face went livid, then he paused. Then, for some miraculous reason, he seemed like he decided to believe me, then he waved his hand at me, saying, "No matter, she is gone!" He looked through the open door to the room he stood in front of and said, "When I came here to guard her room, I found it empty!"

I shrugged my hand. "So? Maybe she didn't want to stay in there."

Steiner looked at me with his face contorted in his usual rage and said, "You _idiot_! Don't you realize how much danger she could be in when wandering around unsupervised!?"

"Yeah," I said with slightly annoyed sarcasm, "It must be a death wish to walk around a castle surrounded by guards."

"The guards have too many Festival duties to guard the castle properly!" Steiner said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That's why she cannot wander! She had to stay here so she could be protected!"

Well, although I did understand all that, it didn't make as much sense to me. Sure, they had to protect her; she was a princess. But she wasn't a baby. And I doubt she liked being locked up in a room and being told she couldn't leave because it was for her own protection. Heck, I would _hate_ it. And seeing as she had left the room would show that she did too.

"Well, I'm sure she just wanted to be alone," I said casually, showing completely opposite reaction to the situation as Steiner. "She can take care of herself."

Steiner's eyes bugged out with rage, and he shouted, "You will _never _understand what it means to protect her!" He shoved past me, forcefully ramming my shoulder (again), then looked back long enough to say, "While I look for her, you _get out_!" Then he ran down the hall and turned the corner.

I rubbed my shoulder and bit back a curse. This guy _really_ doesn't know what gentle means. And when he wants to hurt somebody, he sure succeeds. Well, I guess I should be thankful that he only took enough time to hurt me, not kill me.

And I really didn't appreciate what he said. What does he mean I'll never understand what it means to protect her? He makes it sound like I don't care about anyone, and I don't know how. I already _do_ know what it means to protect someone, _including_ her. I don't want anything to happen to her. I just know, unlike Steiner, that she needs space sometimes, just like everybody else. She may be a princess, but she has the same needs that everyone else has. It's hard to think and enjoy a little time alone when you've got people around you all the time that won't leave you alone. Actually, the thought of someone having to deal with that makes me appreciate my freedom a lot more.

But, regardless of my opinions, I wanted to find her. After all, I came here to talk to her. But it was kind of a bummer that it would be harder to find her because she wasn't where she was supposed to be. Oh well. It'll give me something to do.

I let my hand fall to my side, then turned toward the room that was apparently Dagger's, then walked inside to see if there might be some kind of clue as to where she went (ignoring Steiner's 'suggestion' for me to leave. I wasn't gonna let him push me around). I doubted it would work, but I didn't know where else to start.

The room was actually pretty cozy. A bed sat in the upper left corner, and a small dresser lay against the wall on the opposite side of the window. The room's colors matched that of the hallway I just came out of.

I looked to one wall, then to the other. There really wasn't anything here. The bed was made, and there wasn't anything on the floor.

But as I looked over to the dresser, I saw something sitting on it. I walked over, and saw Dagger's Rod and sheath lying there. I absentmindedly ran a finger down the polished wood of the weapon. There wasn't anything here that showed where she went.

But as I stood in the silent room, my ears picked up a faint sound. I held my breath as I had trained my body to do so I could hear better, and listened.

A voice. Singing. But very faintly.

I turned my head toward the slightly open window, as I knew that was where it was coming from. Still holding my breath, I walked over to it, and pushed it open a bit further. A small breeze wafted toward my face, and I stood still.

It was definitely singing. But I couldn't tell what it was. It actually sounded… familiar. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the voice, trying to drown out all other sounds. Soon, it was the most dominate above all other sounds, although it was still quiet. I listened to the rhythm of the song, and tried to find the direction it was coming from.

It was then that I realized it was Dagger. And I _had_ heard it before. It was the same voice and tune I heard in Dali. So, now I knew she was somewhere nearby, but where was she exactly?

After a second, I found that the sound was being carried over the wind from above. I opened my eyes and took in a breath, looking up toward the castle's walls. Although I couldn't see her, I knew she must be outside on one of the towers.

Well, that was easier than I thought.

I stepped away from the window and turned around. Well, if I wanted to get to the towers, then I would have to go on the elevator. But it would probably be guarded. Then again, Steiner said that most of the guards were on duties for the Festival of the Hunt, so maybe no one would be there. Although I felt bad for sneaking around, I really did want to see her. So, I left the room and headed down the hall.

After entering the entrance hall, I turned to the left and walked down the short hall to the elevator. And I was slightly surprised to see no guard posted. They must be _really _buys if they don't have anybody guarding the elevator. Then again, the Hunt is tomorrow, so they must be doing last minute stuff.

Deciding to take the chance, I got onto the elevator, and pressed the third floor button. Although no one was here, this was the elevator we were talking about; any guard that left their post would probably be back any second.

As the elevator ascended, I wondered if there would be any guards up there, and if I'd get caught. I'm not sure what they would do to me if they found me on the top floor without permission. Although I guessed that Regent Cid wouldn't mind since he sort of knew me, I don't think any guards that saw me would think that. They'd just see me as a trespasser and kick me out. So I wondered; was seeing Dagger worth the risk of getting caught?

Well, duh. Of course it was. This might be the last time I got to see her, so it was worth it. And I don't know why I worried about getting caught all the time since I never do. Baku trained all of Tantalus well in that department, and I'd already done my own training too. I'd just be careful, and worry about it only if it happened.

As the elevator stopped at the top floor, I exited it, and started walking down the hall.

But just ahead, I saw the hall continue forward, and another hall to the left. In the hallway ahead, there was a guard standing on the left side.

Shoot!

I immediately pressed myself against the wall to my left. Not that it did me much good; the wall was in the open. The guy would definitely see me easily if he looked over here. It was just a reflex to try and hide. So, I watched the guy for a minute to see if he would notice me.

But as I watched, I noticed that he hadn't even heard me. He just stood there, his head slightly hanging forward.

Wait… he was sleeping!

I pulled myself away from the wall and chuckled. Do all guards sleep standing up? I mean, Steiner did when we were camping by Evil Forest. I guess they're just so determined to keep their post that they stay standing, even if they're dead tired. I found it pretty funny.

But hey, at least this was my chance to get away without being seen. I walked quietly over, and looked down each hallway. I knew that the throne room was ahead since I had been in there. And I knew Dagger was somewhere outside, so she definitely wasn't over there.

I glanced once at the sleeping guard (biting back a chuckle as I saw drool drip down his chin), then turned to the left, and headed up the flight of stairs.

As I reached the top, I entered a small room that had one more flight of stairs. I could tell by looking at it that it led outside. Well, I hope Dagger doesn't mind that I wanted to see her. If I was right and she wanted time by herself, I hope I wasn't interrupting.

As I got to the top of the stairs, I went through the door, and found myself outside. To my right, there were yet _more_ stairs that lead to the top of the tower. I could tell from here that this must be the highest point in the castle. And _man,_ was that high up.

But all I noticed as I walked up the stairs was Dagger's voice. Of course, it was louder now, and much more beautiful. It felt like her voice was mirroring her beauty.

As I reached the top, I saw her standing a little ways ahead, right by the ledge. She was looking out at the land in front of her, singing pleasantly, completely unaware that I was there. Now I felt reluctant to interrupt her. This must be what she does when she needs to be alone. Should I really bother her now?

But I didn't have to decide as the singing stopped. I don't know if I accidentally made a sound, but she paused, then turned her head in my direction. As we made eye contact, I saw that she was slightly surprised and taken off guard to see me all of a sudden. Crap. I hope she's not mad.

But I didn't worry anymore as I saw a small smile play across her lips. I guess she was surprised, but she didn't mind.

I scratched the back of my head before saying, "Uh… sorry if I'm interrupting something." Although she wasn't mad, I still felt a bit sheepish at intruding on her time.

She shook her head a bit. "It's ok." She took a small step to the side, as if making a space for me. "I was actually getting a little lonely."

I raised an eyebrow with confusion. Wow. This was really turning out different than I thought. But hey, I was glad to see that she seemed to want to see me as much as I wanted to see her. Well, at least I hoped she did.

I walked over to the spot she gave me, and stood next to her. We gave each other small smiles, then looked at the scenery before us.

Although the view of mountains and fields was beautiful, I didn't pay much attention. I wanted to actually talk to her, not just stand here. But what should I say?

Well, maybe I should at least ask how she's doing. That would be a good start.

I looked at her and said, "So, how are you?"

Great. Now that I said it, it sounded stupid. With all that was going on, wasn't that considered a stupid question?

Luckily, she didn't seem to find it dumb. She seemed like she didn't know what to say. She kept her gaze on the overview, but I could see by her face that something was bothering her.

"I'm ok," she said.

Well, I guess she's not very big on talking to people about her feelings. No, I doubt that. Maybe it's just a subject she doesn't want to approach right now. Or, maybe I'm not the person she wants to talk to about it. Gah. Too many variables.

She turned to me, a slight questioning look on her face, and asked, "How did you know I was here?"

Hmmm… Would saying I talked to Steiner, checked her room and heard her singing sound too stupid? I hope not. Cause I wasn't gonna lie.

So, I went to sum up how I got there. How I 'shockingly' found Steiner by her room, all upset about something, how I heard her singing after he left, and managed to find my way up the elevator.

She looked at me for a second, then said, "You could hear me all the way down there?"

I paused. "Yeah."

She blinked, looking a bit surprised with it. "I… didn't know I was that loud."

"Oh, you weren't," I said. "I just kinda caught the sound, that's all."

She paused, then shook her head a bit with a small smile. "Do you hear everything?"

I chuckled. "No. I said I don't hear everything, but I don't miss much when it's important, remember?"

She nodded. "Yes, I remember."

I smiled a little. Actually, now I was curious as to where she learned that tune. It was really nice, and I've never heard it before. And I know it was the same song that helped me out of my dream that one night. I hope she wouldn't mind if I asked.

"Where'd you learn that song? It's really nice."

Her smile faded a bit, and she gave a small shrug. "I'm not really sure." She avoided eye contact for a minute, as if she was trying to remember something. "I've… known it for my whole life." She shook her head a little. "I never knew where I learned it. I just sing it whenever I feel…" She stopped, and looked at the plains.

I watched her quietly for a second. I guess it was something personal. But I still felt a need to finish the sentence, because I thought I knew the answer.

"…Alone?"

She looked at me. I could tell by the slight surprise on her face that I was right.

But she got over it quickly, and nodded. "Yeah. When I was younger, I just sang it because I liked it. But lately… it's been my reminder that I'm not alone, and things will be ok."

I nodded slightly in understanding. It was a bummer to know she had been feeling that way. But at least she had her way of dealing with it.

She took a sudden change in subject by changing her facial expression to slight puzzlement, and saying, "You said that you heard me up here… but how did you get past the guards?"

Uh… Now I felt a little guilty. Would she be ok with knowing I actually had to sneak past people to get here? Well, I'm not gonna lie to her, so I might as well tell her.

"Um… Well, the guards were kinda off duty, so… I just kinda sneaked past them."

She looked a little confused. "Off duty?"

I nodded. "Yeah." I smirked. "And by 'off duty' I mean I found one drooling in dreamland." I lifted a finger for comical emphasis. "Sleeping standing up, just like Steiner." I shrugged. "But this one's not looking for a pen to sign my death certificate."

She smiled, and covered her mouth as she giggled. I smiled in return. I'm glad she enjoyed my comedy. She really looked like she could use some cheering up. And _man_, do I ever love that smile…

She lowered her hand and tried to suppress her smile. Once she did, her composure went back to normal, although she was avoiding eye contact momentarily, looking like she was getting ready to say something important.

When she looked at me, she said, "Thank you… for coming. This has been making me feel better."

"And…" she said, looking a little self-conscious, but like she really wanted to say what she was going to say, "I wanted to thank you for… everything you've done for me. Helping me get here, even though it wasn't your responsibility." She looked in my eyes, and a hint of a smile played across her lips. "Thank you."

Wow. I felt really flattered and surprised by all of that. I knew she appreciated everything I did, but I didn't think she would be so serious about thanking me. It made me feel good.

I smiled in return. "It was no problem." Although that probably sounded dumb, what with the problems it _did_ cause, I really meant it. The point was, I was able to help her, I did, and she appreciated it.

"And," she said, her self-consciousness seeming to fade, "I thought that it would be only fair to let you know why I ran from Alexandria. After all you've done, and the fact that you helped me, even though you didn't know what I was doing… I think it's the least I can do."

"Are you sure?" I asked. I really did want to know, since it would probably answer a million questions, but I didn't want her to think she had to tell me. "If it's none of my business, you don't have to."

She shook her head without any hesitation. "I think you should know."

Well, if that's what she wanted. "Sure. Thanks."

So, she told me everything she knew, and what her Uncle told her. She said how her mother started seeing some guy privately at the castle, how she started getting secretive and short-fused and didn't pay attention to her, how the barrels showed up, how her Uncle knew about this stuff by watching them over an airship fleet, and how he was the one who sent Tantalus to get her because he and Baku were old friends. That little bit surprised me, but it made sense. She said that she told Cid everything we saw in Dali and in the Cargo Ship, and Cid thought she might be planning a war, so they'd go talk to her when South Gate was fixed.

Once she was done, I stood there and thought about it. I guessed that there was a lot more to all of this than I thought. And Cid was right; if the Queen had a bunch of Black Mages, and was acting the way Dagger said she was, then she was definitely planning something big.

"I just hope we can talk to her soon," Dagger said, bringing me out of my thoughts. She looked worried as she said, "And I hope she'll listen."

I frowned sympathetically. Although I had no idea how things would turn out, I knew that we just had to believe that they would be for the better.

I gave a reassuring nod, and said, "It'll be fine." She looked a bit skeptical, but nodded in return. I knew it wasn't that she didn't want to believe that it would be ok. She was just afraid of what might happen. And sometimes that was enough to make anyone feel like things would go wrong.

A small silence followed, where we both looked at the vast plains ahead of us. I still couldn't believe all the stuff Dagger had seen. Although I now knew that Dagger's mother was planning some kind of war, it made me wonder why. What would she want? But I guess that nothing could be answered until Dagger and Cid talked to her.

I was about to say something, but stopped as I saw Dagger cover her mouth. At first, I wasn't sure why, since she wasn't looking at me, but realized she was yawning after she let her hand fall to her side. Her eyes drooped a bit, then she blinked them awake.

I gave a half smile. "Tired?"

She glanced at me, and shrugged a shoulder. "I didn't get much sleep last night." She paused. "I haven't been able to sleep much _at all_ lately."

Well, that was a bummer. It was enough to have all of these things on her mind, but losing sleep over it never made it better. I felt bad that I couldn't do anything about it.

Actually, I probably could. I just didn't know if it was a good idea. Well, I could at least offer. If I could help, that would be great.

I reached for my pocket (mostly forgetting until now that I even had it. The only time I acknowledged it after I left Alexandria was when I saw it with my money in Dali. But I left it out of my pouch for some reason), I pulled out a small pouch that covered the palm of my hand. I held it between us so she could see it, and said, "Well, I'm not sure if I should do this, but you can take this for sleep if you want."

She eyed the bag, then looked at me. She glanced one more time before asking, "What is it?"

"It's a plant that helps you sleep. Better known as Sleeping Weed."

She paused, then I could tell by the look on her face that she was skeptical. I wasn't gonna make her take it, but I said, "It can be kinda addicting, but not if you use it sparingly. Just use it for one night, and you might not need it again."

Dagger paused, looking at both me and the bag curiously, then took it as I offered it.

"You just need a pinch of it, and you'll sleep like a baby," I assured.

Dagger examined the bag, transferring it from one hand to another, then looked at me and said, "Are you sure you want to give this to me? I mean, if it's yours because you've needed it for sleep, then-"

"No, that's not why," I politely interrupted.

She frowned in confusion. "Then why did you have it?"

"Well, in all honesty," I started, feeling a bit sheepish, "That was how I was supposed to kidnap you. I was supposed to put some in your teacup while I was dressed as a knight."

She simply blinked, as if the information was momentarily surprising, but she found no problem with it. "Oh." She then deposited the small bag into a side pocket, then looked at me and said, "Thank you."

"Sure thing," I said honestly.

She smiled a bit, and looked at the plains. I smiled to myself, glad that I could help, and went back to what we were talking about before.

As I was reminded of the meeting between her mother and Cid, I looked at her and asked, "So, do you know when the gate's gonna be fixed?"

"They're already fixing it, but they don't now how long it will take," she said.

Hmmm. Well, even though it was better for things to be settled as soon as possible, I didn't mind that too much. Maybe I would get a chance to see her again. Or, maybe they would keep her locked in her room because they didn't think it was safe for her. Were they gonna let her have _any _fun?

Hey. Come to think of it, maybe she could have fun.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" I asked. That probably sounded weird, but I asked for a reason.

She looked at me, not seeming to think it strange, and said with slight frustration, "Probably sitting in my room again."

"Well," I started, "Why don't you ask Cid if you can watch the Festival of the Hunt?"

"They already mentioned it to me," Dagger said. She paused, then said, "I don't know if I want to see so many people get hurt."

Oh. I should've guessed she wouldn't want to. "Well, the people that sign up know the risks. And they don't think about what might happen to them. They just feel like it's a competition to prove themselves."

She looked at me, still slightly unsure. "Have you ever signed up?"

"No. I never felt like I was ready." But just because I wasn't gonna sign up, didn't mean I wasn't gonna be there. It would be pretty cool to see if she could go with me (or at least go with Steiner. At least so she could do something other than be under lockdown). "But I will be there to watch Fr-"

I stopped. I didn't even think about that until now.

"I'm gonna enter this year," I said simply, my idea playing in my head.

Dagger blinked. "What?"

"I saw an old friend at a pub yesterday," I started, forgetting most of my previous thought, and feeling excited with the thought of the competition. "She's a Burmecian, and I haven't seen her for three years. And we used to have some friendly competition, but she claims she won't fight me because she thinks she'll kick my butt." I swung a fist through the air enthusiastically. "But she's entering the contest, so I will too, and get more points than she does. _That _will be our competition."

Dagger looked a little surprised at my idea. I was a little surprised as she said, "Are you sure you want to do that?" I paused, looking at her with slight puzzlement. "Steiner told me about it. Sometimes people die in the tournament."

I blinked. So, she was afraid something might happen to me? Well, she did say she didn't like seeing people get hurt. But hey, I couldn't pass this up.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. I've wanted to try it at least once anyway, so now's a good time."

She almost looked like she was going to say something, but she stopped. I didn't know what she was gonna say, but I didn't want to pressure her, so I didn't ask.

Instead, she looked like she wasn't too worried about the idea, and said, "If it's what you want."

Cool. Now, I just had to go sign up. I really didn't want to leave, but I figured I better before it got too late for entries. Plus, I didn't know how much longer I had before someone would find us up here, and I'd be in big trouble.

"Well," I said, a little reluctant to go, "I better go sign up before they stop accepting entries."

Dagger paused, then nodded without saying anything. I wasn't sure if something was bothering her, but I didn't ask. I should know that she's gonna be a little upset about a lot of things until she can go to Alexandria and talk to her mother. Plus, she's probably still tired.

I looked at the flight of stairs that I would have to go down and said, "Now I'll just have to see if the guard is still snoozing so I can get by without being seen." If he was awake, it would be hard not to get caught. And they might've posted a guard at the elevator, then I'd _definitely _get caught.

"If you want, I'll go with you."

I looked at Dagger as she said, "No one will bother you if I'm with you." She shrugged a bit. "I'm already in trouble for leaving my room, but they'll leave you alone if they don't know you snuck in."

Hey, I liked that idea. As long as she didn't get in trouble at my expense, I would definitely take that offer.

I nodded, saying, "Sure. Thanks." She nodded back, and we both headed for the stairs.

Upon entering the hall with the sleeping guard, we found that he was now awake. We took the elevator, and there was a guard posted there now. He simply said 'Good day, Princess,' and ignored me. That was when I was really thankful for her offer. I guessed that Steiner hadn't told anyone that she was missing. And not all of the guards must have known that she was supposed to be in her room, or this one would have freaked out.

Of course, there was one certain _knight_ that freaked out when he saw us walking through the entrance room.

I couldn't believe it as Steiner caught sight of us from down the hall to the right, then came parading down, calling to Dagger and yelling at me at the same time. Luckily, Dagger got him to calm down before he managed to shout false accusations in a room with a few stray guards walking from hall to hall. They would have killed me at his command. As Dagger told Steiner that I hadn't done anything and I was leaving, she said goodbye to me and tried to lead Steiner away. Although he did as she said, he was trying to kill me with his eyes. I tried to ignore it as I disappeared down the hall, ignoring the looks some of the walking guards gave me. That would have been ugly. Did Steiner _always_ have to catch me at times when my neck was on the line?

I managed to get back to the Inn not long after that. I already knew that that was where the sign up list was. As I signed my name, I couldn't help but smile. It would be a lot of fun to show up at the contest and surprise Freya. Although winning would be nice, I mostly just wanted to beat _her._ If she thought she could kick my butt, then I'd show her that I could kick hers. The Innkeeper told me when the contestants were supposed to meet the next day, then I left.

Although I pretty much knew the city like the back of my hand, I spent most of the rest of the day walking around. There wasn't much for me to do, and I wasn't gonna sit in a room and let myself think too much. And I know it sounded pathetic, but I didn't feel like warming up for the fights the next day. I would do it later.

I finally decided to get some practice in after dinner. Nothing big; mostly testing my weapons and my reflexes at the hideout. I didn't want to go out of town and practice on real monsters. Although I was sure I could handle it, there was always a chance of finding a monster I couldn't handle, then getting hurt and not being able to compete the next day. That would have been embarrassing; 'Yeah Freya, I was gonna kick your butt in the Festival of the Hunt, but I almost got myself killed during training.' That equaled 'crawling into a wall to hide from the laughter.'

Once the day was spent, I was tired from the practice, and went back to the Inn for bed. I still didn't feel like spending the night alone in the hideout.

Luckily, the only thing on my mind that night was the hunt. I tried to keep myself mentally prepared, and wondered how well I would do. Hopefully I could at least beat Freya. Then I'd be satisfied.

Sometime during the night, my mind slipped into thoughts of Dagger. I remembered everything she said about the goings on in Alexandria, and what might happen. But I didn't let myself think too deeply into it. I couldn't figure it out, so I might as well not worry about it. Dagger and Cid would take care of it.

After I finally emptied my mind, I found myself falling into a restful sleep.

- - - - -

**Interlude**

Dagger sighed as she stared at the dark ceiling in her room. After Zidane left, her day hadn't been very eventful. Unless you counted being hounded by Steiner for sneaking out of her room. She had to listen to him say how worried he was, how she 'shouldn't have been anywhere near the thief,' and how she should start valuing her life more than she did. Then she was put back in her room with Steiner guarding the door, and hadn't come out until she was called for dinner.

Now, she just lay on her bed, trying to sleep with little success, like she had been for a few nights. Her mind was just too full of rushing thoughts, and she couldn't seem to get them out.

It was then that she reminded herself that she had something that would help her sleep. She slipped the covers off of herself, then walked over to her dresser. She opened the wood drawer, and pulled out the small bag of Sleeping Weed that Zidane gave her.

Shutting the drawer, she set the bag on top of the dresser, and unbound the small string. As the bag opened, a faint smell, almost like pine, wafted from the bag. She immersed a finger in the bag, and found that the contents felt like flakes of dried leaves. She put a thumb in with her finger, and pinched some of the flakes between them.

Pulling them out, she brought her fingers closer to her face for a better inspection. In the moon's light, they appeared to be the dark remains of crushed leaves, the pine smell slightly increasing as it came closer to her nose.

She paused, debating the thought of taking them. She had never taken anything like this before, so she was a bit skeptical. But she trusted Zidane, and knew that he wouldn't give it to her if it wasn't safe.

Bending her head back a bit, she sprinkled the leaves in her mouth. As she righted her head, she found the flakes hard to swallow, and poured a glass of water form a pitcher that sat on her dresser.

After drinking it, and swallowing all the weed, she set the glass down, fastened the bag shut before putting it back into her drawer, then got back into bed. She didn't know how long it would take to work, but she was willing to wait if it would help her sleep.

As she waited, her thoughts went back to Zidane's visit. Although she was surprised to see him, she was glad he came. She never thought that he valued their friendship enough to risk getting caught just to see her. But, maybe that just meant he was thinking the same thing she was; that they would no longer see each other upon her return to Alexandria. She really enjoyed and appreciated his company; how he made her feel better with his sense of humor. Something she had noticed about him was that he hardly let things get to him. After all, Steiner was never adamant in his expressions of hatred for him. But Zidane always made jokes about it, as if nothing could ever get him down. Now that she thought about it, the only time she ever saw anything get to him was in Dali, when he retorted to Steiner that he didn't want to be a thief. It made her wonder; how did he end up being one in the first place? And if he didn't want to be a thief, why was he still in Tantalus?

The thought reminded her of the discussion between he and Steiner after the escape from Evil Forest. Although she had been exhausted, she heard everything that was said.

"_Then let's hear _why _you were there to abduct her!"_

"_I don't know," Zidane said honestly. "The Boss said that it was an important favor for an important friend, and that we didn't need to know any more than that."_

_Steiner didn't look very satisfied with that. "HA! You expect me to believe that!?"_

_Zidane shrugged his shoulders. "Believe what you want. It's the truth."_

"_Even if it is, why would you follow such an illegal crime!?"_

"_Trust me," Zidane said, using a serious, and somewhat pained voice, "If you knew this guy, you'd know why." _

Dagger frowned. What did he mean by that? She never officially met Zidane's boss, but he must have meant that he was forced to do things. Zidane didn't seem like the type to do things like that willingly. So… maybe his boss was… abusive?

The thought upset her. Although it was just an assumption, the idea made her slightly angry. She felt bad for Zidane; he didn't want to be a thief, but he was forced to because he was abused? Why didn't he just leave if he was treated that way? Why deal with it?

But she told herself not to worry about it. After all, she didn't know any of it for sure. And even if it was true, Zidane seemed to be doing ok. But all the same, she hoped she was wrong.

Another thing bothering her was the Festival of the Hunt. She planned on going because, although she still didn't think she would like seeing such a competition, she didn't want to stay in her room. But, she was also worried about Zidane. After all, Steiner said that people sometimes died in the contest… she didn't want that to happen to him. He was her friend.

But he could take care of himself, couldn't he? She had seen him battle monsters without getting hurt. Well, he got hurt fighting a monster in Evil Forest, but he had been fine during the other battles. Maybe she shouldn't worry. He said himself that he hadn't entered before because he didn't think he was ready. If he signed up, then he felt ready. He'd be fine.

Suddenly, her eyes drooped, and she felt her mind start to become fatigued. It didn't knock her out right away, but she could tell that the Sleeping Weed was working.

She gratefully closed her eyes, glad that she could get some sleep for the first time in a long time.

- - - - -

I really liked the pre-hunt feeling; nice way to pump you up in the morning.

As the Innkeeper said, I met with the other contestants in the entrance hall of Lindblum castle. There were about ten people, which seemed like the average amount of people for the hunt. I already saw Freya, and she was surprised that I was there. When I told her I signed up since she wouldn't fight me, she smirked and just said, 'I hope you're ready.' In other words, she was accepting my challenge.

A guard already explained the rules; apparently, we each had different starting points (although we could take the cable cars to other districts after it started), the time limit was fifteen minutes, and we had to make as many kills as possible. The monsters were made up of Fangs and Mus. Plus, there was supposed to be one large monster that would give a heavy amount of points if killed. But they warned us that it was big and powerful, and don't take a battle with it lightly. Certain parts of the city were blocked off for the safety of the citizens. Once we bagged a monster, we had to mark it with our assigned paint color (they gave us each a small can that was easily attached to a belt. My color was blue) and the monsters would be tallied and scored after the hunt. There would be guards positioned on the towers all around the assigned fighting areas, so they would know if someone tried to mark a kill that wasn't theirs. A horn would sound when it was over, and we all had to meet back here while the scores were tallied.

After a few minutes, they were ready. They took a small group of each of us and sent us to our assigned district (I was going to the Theater District. Freya went somewhere else). Once the cable car arrived, we waited in the station for the Hunt to start. I had my weapons at the ready, spinning them experimentally as I felt the excitement of battle come over me. I'd never done anything like this before; all of my other battles were against Tantalus for training, or monsters when it was either kill or get killed. This time, I was doing it for enjoyment, and a chance to test my skills (and kick Freya's butt). I waited anxiously for it to start.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, we heard the loud horn blow somewhere overhead, and we all went for action.

The other two contestants and I ran out of the cable car's housing and went in different directions. One ran to the left, one ahead, and I ran to the right, toward the Tantalus hideout. I felt the adrenaline rush through my veins as I searched for a monster to fight.

This was gonna be fun.

- - - - -

**Interlude**

Dagger almost jumped as the loud horn blew ahead, followed by the deafening sound of the onlookers shouting with excitement. The Festival of the Hunt had started.

She stood on a bridge that stretched across the entirety of the Business District's shopping square. She could see the different shops down below, and across the way about two hundred feet. Despite the show she had come to see, she had to admit that the view was perfect.

"This view is absolutely brilliant!" Steiner said above the shouting crowds. Luckily, she, Steiner and Vivi managed to find an area where they could avoid being hounded by the other people.

Vivi put his hands on the edge of the bridge, his yellow eyes just able to see over it and gaze at the ground below. He had gone back to the castle the night before, and stayed as the Regent gave him another invitation. He wouldn't have known where else to go anyway. Sure, he could have stayed with Zidane, but he didn't know where he was. All he knew was that he had seen Dagger for a while, then went to sign up for the Hunt (Dagger told him about it that morning, when she was finally allowed to come out of her room). Since Zidane was competing, and Steiner invited him, Vivi came with them to watch.

"Do you think Zidane will come by here?" he asked, watching as one of the contestants approached a Fang, causing hollers and whistles from the crowd.

Steiner 'Hmphed!' then said, "I couldn't care less! Please Master Vivi, let us watch the Hunt without mention of that monkey."

Vivi looked at Steiner for a moment, then glanced at Dagger. She smiled to him, as if saying 'Don't worry about it,' then looked back at the now ongoing battle.

Dagger slightly winced as she saw the monster swipe at the contestant in the square, just barely dodging a slash to the arm. After a couple more movements, the contestant fell the beast, and put paint on its hide as the crowd cheered. She didn't really like seeing how close someone could come to getting hurt, but she had to admit that the feel of the competition was exciting. As long as she saw nothing fatal, she felt that she would enjoy herself.

- - - - -

_Three fangs… not bad,_ I thought, dripping a bit of blue paint on the defeated monster. So far, finding the monsters hadn't been too hard; after all, _they_ found _me._ But they weren't that tough. It really took more time to find them than it did to beat them. I wasn't sure how much time had gone by, but I wanted to make sure I got in as many kills as possible before it got too late.

Well, considering the amount of monsters I've bagged, and the fact that there's two other fighters here, there might not be that many left. I figured it would be a good idea to go to another district.

So, I rushed to the cable car, and told the conductor to take me to the Business District. I kinda chose at random, not really knowing if the choice would make a difference. Within about a minute, it arrived.

I quickly got out of the car, and rushed to the streets. I looked back and forth, searching for a monster. All I saw was an occasional dead one. I ran to the right, toward the shopping square. I hoped that I didn't just waste a minute to come here.

As I ran, a sound to my right caught my attention. As I turned my head, I was in time to see a Mu leap off a building, its fangs bared at me as it aimed for my head.

I jumped to the side, and sliced my weapons at the precise moment it passed me in the air. It squealed briefly, then hit the ground in a furry heap, never to rise again.

Well, I take back my worry of wasting time. I dripped a bit of paint on its fur, then proceeded down the street. Hopefully, there would be more monsters.

As I reached the square, the sound of a large crowd greeted my ears. There was an occasional cheer, but there was mostly frantic talking, and an occasional gasp. I guess this was where the crowds gathered to watch. And there must be a battle going on.

As I turned the corner and ran forward, what greeted my gaze wasn't what I expected.

The crowd wasn't gasping at a battle; they were referring to the very _large_, very _ugly_ monster that now towered ten feet in front of me.

- - - - -

**Interlude **

Dagger was beginning to enjoy the excitement of the battles that played before the crowd. So far, she had seen a few impressive moves from the contestants, and no one had been injured. She hadn't seen Zidane, but she didn't mind. If he did manage to get himself hurt, she didn't want to see it.

For a few minutes, the area was empty, other than a few dead monsters. The crowd was beginning to get impatient, and call out for a monster or contestant to show up.

And finally, their wishes were granted.

As most of the crowd 'ooed' and 'awwed' at the sight, Dagger couldn't help but gasp as she saw the largest monster yet make its way into the shopping square. Although there were no contestants here right now, and no other live monsters, the size of this one frightened her. Why did they let such a large beast be in this hunt? Wouldn't that increase the chances of someone getting killed?

"What a prize!" Steiner exclaimed. He watched the monster as it grunted loudly, enough to be heard over the crowd. "The hunter to fall this beast will certainly be the winner!"

Dagger wasn't comforted by his words. She didn't want anyone to fight that thing. The chances of death were too high. She hoped it would leave, and be captured after the hunt, and no one would have to fight it.

But, it seemed that she wouldn't see that come true.

For the first time since the hunt started, Dagger felt her heart jump into her throat; Zidane just came running into the square, now face to face with the large beast.

She couldn't believe this. She couldn't watch it. No matter how strong Zidane was, she doubted he could handle a monster that big without getting hurt, if not killed. She wished she had stopped him from entering the Hunt the day before, just as she wanted to.

"Ha!" Steiner exclaimed next to her. "Let's see how well the thief fairs against this monster!"

Dagger ignored his comment. Although it angered her, she didn't focus on it; she was beginning to get too worried as the monster approached Zidane as he backed up a few paces. Vivi shared her concern. His yellow eyes became wide, and he called out, "Be careful, Zidane!"

- - - - -

If I wasn't afraid of embarrassing myself, I swear I would have just wet my pants.

This sucker is _huge_; he must be as tall as two of me stacked on top of each other. His leathery skin is a shade of ginger, and he's got hooves the size of dinner plates. His two tusks must be at least five feet long, and he's very round; he must weight at least a ton.

I took a hesitant step back as it grunted loudly, and took a step toward me. Ok… so, would it be more dangerous to try to fight it, or attempt to run from it? I don't think I can take on this thing by myself; something like this would take all of Tantalus to defeat. But I doubted I could run from it. Sure, it was huge, so it was probably kinda slow, but how do I know it doesn't have more speed than I'm guessing?

I took my eyes off it for a second and glanced around to find some kind of option. I took a glance at the crowd, who cheered loudly, and called for me to kick its butt.

As I did, something caught my eye. I looked again, and sure enough, I saw Dagger, Steiner and Vivi standing on the bridge, all of their eyes locked on me. So, Dagger _did _come. I wasn't sure if that made me feel happy, or guilty. All three of their expressions were different. Steiner looked like he was enjoying this (surprise…), Vivi looked like he was calling something, and Dagger had her hands over her mouth. Well, now I feel bad. She said she didn't want to see anybody get hurt, and I can almost guarantee she's about to.

Just then, I returned my attention to the monster (pay attention, idiot!) as it clomped closer to me. I gripped my weapons tighter, and tried to think about how I would fight it. This definitely wasn't gonna be easy.

Just then, I saw something red blur behind the monster. Before it could turn around, it cried out in pain. I took time from its distraction to run to the side, distancing myself from it. I managed to get far enough to see what had just attacked it.

Freya pulled the end of her Javelin out of the monster's thigh, and leapt next to me as it swung its tusks at her. We both stood battle ready, and the monster growled at us, as the crowd erupted with excitement.

Freya spun her Javelin, looking at me with a smirk, saying over the shouting crowd, "Being a little daring, aren't we?'

"Not my fault," I said, keeping my gaze on the monster and taking a step backwards with Freya as the monster advanced on us. "It just happened to be here when I showed up."

Freya 'Hmphed' with amusement, her lip curling into a smile. She gave the monster a warning by slashing at the air between us and said, "Well, it seems that our contest will have to be compromised until this monster is defeated."

I nodded without looking at her. "Sounds good to me." Although I was here to beat her, I would rather have her help than get killed.

We both took a moment to look at each other, give a nod of agreement, and turn to the monster.

This was gonna be one interesting battle.

The monster roared, ignoring Freya's warning, and jumped at us. Freya leapt to the side, and proceeded to stab its side. But it was a little faster than we expected, and it used its tusks like a sword, stopping her weapon. I stopped myself from jumping toward it, knowing that it would turn in time to knock me over with its tusks. Instead, I ran to its other side as it turned its head, so we each had a side.

As it turned its head to watch me, Freya took the moment to stab its side. It roared, returning its gaze toward her as she leapt out of its way. I jumped in and stabbed its other side, mimicking Freya's dodging as it swung its head toward me.

As Freya leapt in and stabbed its side again, the monster seemed to be getting angry, knowing that it was being tricked. So, when I leapt in and proceeded to stab its side, it ignored Freya, and swung its head at me. Of course, I didn't expect that move, so I had no time to dodge the tusks as they slammed into my stomach, sending me flying backwards, landing hard on my back.

I was momentarily paralyzed as the wind was knocked out of me. I struggled to get my breath back as I rolled onto my side, pulling myself onto my feet slowly. As I got sight of the monster, I saw it swing its head toward Freya with unexpected speed, and repeat its move on her. She was sent flying back, and the monster turned toward me.

I searched my head for a way to beat this thing. Although we had already gotten in a few hits, they wouldn't be enough to beat it. The injuries were small for something so big, and stabbing its side repeatedly wasn't going to do anything. I couldn't go for its head without getting impaled by a tusk. So, how was I gonna beat it?

Well, I had one idea. But it would be a pretty big risk. Then again, just stabbing it and hoping it would bleed to death was more dangerous than trying a one hit kill. I just hoped I would get my target.

As the monster faced me, I watched its movements to wait for the right moment to go in. It glared at me, a growl bubbling in its throat, then took a step toward me.

Now or never.

Hoping I wasn't about to commit accidental suicide, I took a running start toward the monster, then threw myself forward, spinning my body so I was looking upward. I landed on the ground just under its tusks, and slid underneath its belly. As I came to a stop, I used all my might to thrust every inch of my dagger deep into its heart.

The monster roared loudly, and I knew I had done it.

Now I just had to get out of here before I was crushed by a two thousand pound monster.

After pulling my weapon out, I rolled to the left, leaving the danger of the dying monster. As I jumped to my feet, the beast cried out and staggered, then fell onto its stomach. It heaved a great growl, then became still.

The crowd erupted.

I smiled at my success, despite the deafening crowd. I looked to the side for Freya, and found her standing, watching me with a smile. She looked unhurt, so I smiled back. That was great. We did it.

As the crowd continued to cheer, Freya walked toward me, then leaned in, saying loudly over the crowd, "Mark it; it's yours."

I looked at her, saying, "Are you sure? We both fought it. Maybe we can share the points."

She shook her head. "You finished it off. It's yours."

I paused, then said, "Ok. Thanks." She nodded, and I walked toward the monster. As I smeared a bit of paint on its hide, the crowd (if it was possible) became louder.

Just then, a loud horn was heard over the crowd, signifying the end of the hunt. Luckily, that made them all quiet down a bit, although they didn't stop.

I scanned the cheering crowd, feeling invigorated at my success, glad to see how much the people enjoyed it. Sure, the Hunt was dangerous, but it was fun. And, thanks to this huge kill, it was possible I won.

As I continued to scan the crowd, my eyes landed on Dagger, Steiner and Vivi. I could see Steiner slightly fuming, which made me chuckle. He probably hoped that the monster would kill me. Vivi was jumping up and down excitedly. Dagger looked like she was still in a bit of shock over the battle. But after a second, she seemed to get over it, and she started clapping.

I smiled, and waved to them. Dagger and Vivi waved back, then both clapped. I'm glad they enjoyed it.

- - - - -

Despite my large kill, I was surprised to find myself in the throne room after about an hour. It had taken about that long for the guards to tally the points, and declare the winners. And I just happened to get first place. Which was definitely more than I thought I would get; I just wanted to beat Freya. Instead, I beat her, and won the whole Hunt. Works for me.

I stood in front of the throne, Steiner, Vivi, Freya (who got second place) and Dagger standing in different areas around me. The guy that got third place already left (he was all excited about his badge, and rushed home to show his family). Freya already got hers, and I was about to get mine.

Artania walked forward, a badge and a small pouch in hand, saying, "And first place, along with this year's title 'Master Hunter,' goes to Hunter Zidane." He gave me the badge and the pouch (which held the reward money), and said, "Congratulations."

"Thanks," I said sincerely, inspecting the badge. It was just a simple badge; the same size and color of a gold gil, with the words, 'Master Hunter' carved on the front.

I took a second to pocket the money bag as Cid, who sat on his throne, said, "Yes, Gwok-Gwok well done, Master Zidane." He looked to all the people in the room. "In a short while, we will enjoy the Festival feast." With that, he hopped out of his chair, and went to say something to Artania.

I turned as I heard small footsteps approach me. Vivi was now in front of me, looking at me with a smile while saying, "That was a cool hunt, Zidane."

"Thanks," I said, smiling back.

Vivi scratched the back of his head, momentarily releasing his smile and saying, "It was kinda scary for a while; especially when you fought that really big monster."

I shrugged a shoulder, pocketing my badge. "Yeah, but it wasn't that bad since I had some help from Freya." I looked at her and gave her a teasing, 'I beat you' smile. She rolled her eyes, but knowingly smiled. I wasn't gonna rub it in her face, but it was fun to 'say' it at least once.

I happened to glance at Steiner out of the corner of my eye, and found him murmuring to himself with his arms folded, glancing at me occasionally. I didn't know what he was saying, but I doubted it was anything I wanted to hear.

I turned my head to the right, and saw Dagger. She hadn't said much since the Hunt ended. When I came here, she took a second to ask if I was ok, but that was all. Now, she was watching me, but so far she had been quiet.

So, I decided to approach her. As I did, I said, "So, did you enjoy it?" Although she seemed like she had enjoyed herself during the Hunt, I wasn't sure as I saw her reaction now.

She paused, then shrugged. "It was interesting."

I folded my arms and said, "Well, no one got hurt right?"

"Yeah."

I gave a slightly reassuring smile. "Then it was worth it, right?"

She paused again, then nodded sincerely. "Yes. It was."

Good. I was glad she had some fun. It was better than being shut in her room.

Although, I don't think it would have been too bad to be in her room during the next event.

"REGENT!"

All the conversation in the room stopped, and all heads turned toward the door as the voice was heard. We were all just in time to see the door open, and someone walk in.

It was an injured Burmecian; a _badly_ injured Burmecian. As he took a step into the room, he fell onto his hands and knees and gasped. Most of his clothes were covered in blood, and he had visible lacerations through the tears in his shirt.

Before anyone could react to anything, the voice was heard again. "REGENT!" A soldier shouted as he burst into the room, following the Burmecian. He looked down at the injured visitor, then looked up to Cid, his face contorted in panic, and said, "I am sorry, Regent! No one was posted at the stairs, and he got by!"

But Cid was all but upset about that. He immediately took a few steps forward, and said, "It is alright. You are dismissed." His voice was unmistakably stern and somewhat disturbed. The guard hesitated, the nodded and left the room.

Freya rushed to the Burmecian's side, then helped keep him on his knees by supporting his shoulder. He winced, and began to pant slightly.

Cid took another step forward, then said, "What has happened?" His voice was void of any casual tone.

The Burmecian turned his head up, but didn't look directly at the Regent. He took in a breath, and all eyes were on him.

As he spoke, his voice was somewhat raspy and pained. "I… have come to bring the Regent grave and drastic news... On behalf of the King of Burmecia." He paused, his face contorting into a pained grimace. I hated to admit it to myself, but this guy was badly hurt. He didn't look like he was gonna last much longer.

After regaining as much composure as he could, he continued, slightly quicker this time. "Burmecia is being… attacked by Black Mages. Our defensive forces have been- unsuccessful from keeping them out of our city. I came here to warn you of the battle. This enemy is… the most powerful we have seen. We need- reinforcements."

There was a pause, in which the only sound in the room was the Burmecian's steady panting.

Finally, Cid nodded, saying, "We will send reinforcements immediately."

Through his pained face, then man smiled. "Thank you Regent. All of Burmecia will be-" He stopped abruptly, and his face contorted with pain. He heaved a great gasp, then suddenly fell limp, falling out of Freya's grasp.

Freya leaned over him, checking his neck for a pulse. With her face grave, she removed her hand, saying, "He's dead."

I watched as she sadly shook her head. I couldn't believe that just happened. Not just because of the shock of seeing someone die; but the information he gave. Black Mages were attacking Burmecia. And that only meant one thing.

Brahne was on the move.

- - - - - - - - - -

_As usual, I always appreciate reviews, so please leave one. Thanks._


	9. Chapter 9

_Hello all._

_Thanks for tuning in to the next chapter. Just as a warning, I'm sure most FFIX fans will know that this chapter will be the beginning of more violence. Although I have put slight violence in my stories, this will be new to me. As readers of my other stories may have noticed, this is my first T rated story, and the first story that has had any swearing (because I hate to swear, so I hate writing it too). But re-writing FFIX would be difficult if I didn't make the battles somewhat descriptive. But don't worry, I won't overdo it; the rating will not go up. I almost couldn't stand making this T, so there's no chance of M. EVER._

_And I hope my genre rating of romance hasn't seemed misleading so far. Of course there will be plenty later, but right now there is only the light fluff of Zidane and Dagger's thoughts, as they are only beginning to feel anything other than friendship. Dagger hasn't thought much on her relationship with Zidane, and Zidane is clueless as to his feelings for her. I hope that was a pleasant change for some. I hope I've made it clear so far that Zidane isn't the self-proclaimed ladies' man from the game. Although I've kept his sense of humor, my story requires his view on girls to be different. Instead, he is concerned about his past and has focused on it for most of his life, and has little indication of his feelings for any girl. He never really knew a true kind of love, considering the way he was treated by Baku. So, although he has these feelings, he isn't aware of them yet. Although Freya is, she wants him to figure it out himself._

_Anyway, I hope you have been satisfied so far, and I hope you finish this. My main reason for changing the storyline for this is a hope to create a sequel. Please enjoy the chapter._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I stood there with my arms folded, listening to the conversation going on in the throne room. Two Lindblum soldiers had quickly removed the Burmecian's body, and Artania and Cid were discussing the next course of action.

"This couldn't have happened at a more inopportune time," Artania said. Although he had shared grief for the fallen Burmecian, his mind had quickly focused on the matter at hand. Dagger, Steiner, Vivi and I listened as the two talked.

"Most of the soldiers are still working to remove the monsters from the Hunt," he continued. "It will take more time than we have to get them in ranks and send them to Burmecia."

Cid sat on his throne, his small face contorted with lines of concentration. He, too, was trying to focus on the current situation. "Our only chance of action is the [Gwok-Gwok Fourth Aerial Fleet. We must recall them for reinforcements."

Artania shook his head. "The Fleet is our eyes over Alexandria. We need them, now more than ever to watch the town." This information let me know that Cid must have filled him in on the info Dagger gave him.

Cid paused. "We have no choice. If no troops are sent to Burmecia, the attack may become widespread. We have no idea why Burmecia was attacked in the first place; we cannot risk the violence to spread."

Artania paused, considering the action carefully. He didn't seem to be able to come up with anything better, so he nodded. "Very well, Regent."

Ok, none of this sounded good. Apparently, Queen Brahne is already starting a battle with the Black Mages, and Lindblum is about to lose their eyes over Alexandria to defend Burmecia. And from the sound of it, Burmecia was in _big _trouble.

Freya was the first to speak up. Any of her usually comical composure was gone, and she had taken on a completely serious look. Not that I could blame her; Burmecia was still her home. "I will go to Burmecia now. I cannot wait for reinforcements. I must help my people."

My first thought on that comment; _she's insane._ My second thought was agreement. There had to be something that could be done while the soldiers gathered. And even if she traveled by foot, she could definitely get there faster than the soldiers could gather. The only problem was that she was just one person. Going by herself was too dangerous.

But I already knew how to remedy that.

"I'll go with you," I said. It was then that all eyes turned to me. And yes, I knew the risks. I knew it was war, and if we got too deep into it, I could get killed. But I've said it before; I'll help who I can, no matter the danger that comes to me.

"Thank you, but I will go alone," Freya said.

"Ok," I said, "Then go see how long you last with no help." I didn't mean it to sound offensive, but I wanted her to know how dumb I thought it sounded. There shouldn't be any reason for her to refuse help. And I refused to let her go off to a war by herself. The whole 'If I can help someone, I'm gonna do it,' was flaring up. So, there was no way I was gonna let her off that easy. Not when I could help a friend.

Luckily, it didn't take any more coaxing than that. My guess would be that she remembered how stubborn I can be. And I think, despite her thoughts on going alone, she knew she needed help. She nodded, saying, "Alright."

"Um… do you mind if I go with you?"

I was a little surprised as Vivi requested this. I didn't think he'd want to go anywhere near a battle. But then I remembered; there were Black Mages there. He probably wanted to find out what he could. And that was understandable. Although I didn't like the possibility that he could get hurt, I didn't have the right to alter his decisions.

"Ok," I said, after getting an agreement nod from Freya.

"Then we're going to Burmecia."

Ok, _that_ I wasn't gonna agree with. I looked at Dagger, finding it slightly hard to believe that she would want to go.

"What?" I asked.

She looked at me seriously. "You know that my mother is behind this, Zidane," she said. "Maybe if she's there… I can talk to her. Maybe I can make her stop all of this to prevent the battle from becoming widespread." Her tone was self-conscious, and worried.

But I wasn't gonna let her go. Sure, I didn't have to worry because no one else would let her either, but I didn't want to just tell her 'no'. Although I understood her reasons for wanting to go, I wanted her to understand why she couldn't.

I started a bit hesitantly, not sure how she would react to my answer. "I don't think it would be that simple." She almost looked ready to protest, but I continued before she could. "Although it might work, the chances are slim. She might not even be there. It's more likely that she called the attack from Alexandria, and that's where she is. And you realize that this is a war, don't you? You could end up getting killed."

"So it's ok for all of you to risk your lives, but it's not ok for me?" she protested. She seemed slightly angry, but mostly in disbelief. How was I supposed to answer that? I did believe that she should have the right to make her own decisions, but how much right would she have when she was a princess? No one would let her do what she wanted; they would insist on protecting her. And I understood that; I didn't want anything to happen to her either. But did it really matter what I said since the others would stop her anyway?

"There is no need to argue," Cid interrupted. Everyone looked at him as he said, "Garnet, you will stay here. Master Zidane, Freya and Vivi are free to go as they please."

I knew Dagger wanted to protest, but she didn't. I guessed that she decided she couldn't fight her Uncle on the matter. Although I felt bad that she couldn't help like she wanted to, I was glad. At least she would be out of danger.

Freya looked from one to the other, then said, "Traveling will be easier from the Falcon's Gate." She looked at Cid. "Will you open it for us?"

Cid nodded. "Of course. But it may take some time to find someone available." At that, he brushed off any of his concern, and flashed a smile to the room. Apparently he was trying to lighten the mood. "Well, let us enjoy the Festival Feast while we wait." He hopped off of his throne. "I will call you when it is ready."

Before he could leave, Dagger turned and walked out of the room without a word. I watched her go with guilt. Even though I knew it was best for her to stay here, I still felt bad that she wasn't free to make her own decisions. Hopefully, she'd understand eventually.

- - - - -

Interlude 

She didn't storm out of the room; she just left because she couldn't stay there anymore.

She was tired of being treated this way; like she had no power to take care of herself, and she couldn't make any decisions for herself. Of course, she knew it was natural for people to treat her that way because she was a princess. But why couldn't she help when she could? After all, her Uncle said that they would talk to her mother when they could. But things were becoming drastic, and a war was starting. They had to go _now_. And she did believe that Zidane was right; her mother probably wasn't in Burmecia. She was probably still in Alexandria. And because of the sudden attack on Burmecia, they couldn't wait for South Gate to be fixed. They had to leave now, even if they had to go on foot.

But no. As usual, she had to sit on the sidelines and be treated like a delicate item that couldn't be spoiled, even if it could help. She appreciated everyone's concern for her, but she was starting to get tired of the paranoid concern. She wanted to help; she wanted to do something.

As she reached the bottom of the stair, she paused. She wasn't even sure what she would do now. She knew she'd go insane just sitting around, wondering what was going on with her mother, and if the others were ok. She needed to do something. She had to find a way to get to her mother.

Then, almost as if it had been on her mind all along, it came to her. She could get to her mother. The idea was risky. But if everyone else got to do something, so did she.

Quietly, she made her way to her room.

- - - - -

A little while after that, everyone came to the Conference Hall. Just like the first time I came here, the table was loaded with food.

Dagger was there too. I felt bad as I saw her pretty much ignoring everyone. I guessed she was mad because she had to stay behind. But I tried to stick by my earlier decision; she was safer here.

So, there wasn't a lot of conversation during the meal. Apparently, the custom was to eat with your hands while standing up. That was a little weird to me, but not a problem. I'd done it plenty of times before.

By the time we were almost done, the gate hadn't opened yet. I already took a little time to get us ready for the journey; there was enough time to go to the Business district and pick up what we needed. By the time I got back, they were ready in the Conference Hall. Now we were waiting for the gate to open. And after eating, it sure started to get boring. Actually, the boredom was starting to make me tired.

Wait. Everyone else looks tired too. I think Cid just fell asleep on the table.

All of a sudden, a wave of drowsiness came over me. It was so sudden, I had to grip the table in front of me as I almost fell forward. What was going on? Everyone getting tired after this couldn't be just a coincidence.

As my vision blurred, I looked up. Freya just fell to the floor, and Vivi's slumped against the table. What is going on?

I looked over to Dagger. Through my blurry vision, I saw that she was just fine. Actually, she was looking at me. She looked kinda… guilty?

Wait.

You've _got_ to be kidding.

Although I've only taken it once (but not purposely; Blank put some in my cup when he was passing out drinks to the Tantalus guys, and they laughed at me until I woke up), I know what it feels like to be knocked out by Sleeping Weed. And I gave that bag to Dagger. I started to panic as I realized what she was doing. She snuck in here, and put Sleeping Weed on everyone's plates, except hers (and Steiner's, who didn't look tired, but more freaked out at the people that began to drop like flies around him). Then she was gonna run off with Steiner when we were sleeping. Was she crazy!? Didn't she realize what she was getting herself into!?

"Dagger…" I started. But I didn't have time to say anything else. Before I knew it, the floor came up to greet me, and I blacked out.

- - - - -

**Interlude**

"What is happening!? The food! It is poisoned!!! Princess, I'm sorry I didn't check it first!"

"Steiner, you're fine," Dagger said, finally taking her eyes off Zidane. She looked at him as he said, "What do you mean?" Then his eyes bugged out and he said, "P-Princess!? Y…you-"

"It's not poison," Dagger assured him, glancing at the others before looking at him. "They're just sleeping."

Steiner's eyebrows crossed with confusion. "But… how did you do it?" He put his hands at his sides, a look of disappointment on his face. "_Why _did you do it?"

Dagger paused, feeling guilty by her actions, despite her reasons. "I put Sleeping Weed on their plates."

Steiner looked surprised. "Where did you get such an item?"

She paused, knowing the answer wouldn't make him happy. "Zidane gave it to me."

Of course, Steiner's face went livid with anger. "Why that little-"

"Steiner, he gave it to me because I was having problems sleeping," she said, forestalling his accusations. "He didn't have any idea I was going to do this."

Steiner opened and closed his mouth multiple times, still in disbelief at it all. He finally shook his head quickly, then repeated, "Why did you do this?"

Dagger let a little sigh, and avoided eye contact. "I didn't plan on doing this… But I have to make my own decisions." She looked at him. "I can't let anyone tell me I can't do anything about this just because I need to be protected." She shook her head. "I can't just sit back and watch when I know… my mother is behind all of this."

Steiner paused, considering her words. He looked at her sympathetically. He knew what she was going to do; she wanted leave so she could talk to the Queen. But could he really let her do this?

"Princess," he started, trying to keep his voice tranquil and understanding, "Do you know what you are proposing? This is war; there will be much danger."

Dagger shook her head. "I don't care. I'm tired of being treated like I can't do anything. I have to do this."

Steiner looked at her, trying to decide what he should do. It would be against his sworn duty to allow her to run off when a war was starting. But it was also against his sworn duty to defy her orders. But, he knew her well enough to know she wasn't going to change her mind. So, he would accompany her to keep her safe.

He gave a small nod, and said, "Very well. Let us go."

Dagger felt relief by his answer. She knew it would take a little coaxing, but she was glad he agreed. Despite her desire to go, she knew she couldn't go by herself.

She nodded, then turned and proceeded to tiptoe out of the room, Steiner's metal footsteps quietly echoing off the walls.

Before she got to the door, Dagger paused as she came by Zidane. She looked down at him as he lay on his back, in a deep sleep, unaware that she was leaving. For some reason, she felt the most guilt for doing this to him. Of course, all of them meant to keep her safe, and she wished she didn't have to do it at all. But, she had used something he gave her as a kind gesture, and used it to run away, despite everyone's concern. And he had been a good friend to her. But she knew she had to do this. He didn't understand, just as they didn't. She had to try and make up for what her mother had done.

She took a moment to kneel down next to him, looking at his peaceful face, although it was facing the other way. She knew he wouldn't hear her, but she couldn't just leave without saying it.

"I'm sorry, Zidane."

She stood up, gave Steiner a nod, and they both crept out of the room.

- - - - -

As my eyes cracked open, I saw the wall some ways ahead of me, blurring in my vision. How long was I out?

Then I remembered why I was asleep. The memory put a jolt through my body, and my eyes opened wider, straightening my back into a sitting position. I took a quick look around. Freya was beginning to wake, and Vivi was still asleep against the table. I couldn't see Cid, so I guessed he was still on the table.

Dagger and Steiner were nowhere in sight.

I pulled myself to my feet, and looked at the door. They got away! And I didn't know how much of a head start they had. I couldn't believe Dagger did this.

Freya stood up, supporting herself with one hand on the table, the other on her head. "What happened?" she said.

I looked at her. This was gonna be a weird explanation. "Dagger used Sleeping Weed to put us to sleep and ran off with Steiner."

Freya blinked at me, surprised at my bluntness, and the idea of what happened. The idea seemed to rid her of any drowsiness, and she removed her hands from the table and her head, looking at me with an eyebrow lifted in confusion, and asked, "Why would she do that?" She lifted her hands at her sides. "Where did she even _get_ Sleeping Weed?"

I felt a bit sheepish as I said, "From me." I continued my explanation to forestall any questions. "She was having problems sleeping, so I gave her some." As Freya looked increasingly confused, I said, "She did it because she didn't want to stay behind. She wants to go talk to her mother."

"Well, then maybe you can catch up to her."

I looked over as I heard Cid's voice. He was standing on the table, slightly drowsy looking, but awake.

I nodded. We weren't sure if she was going to Burmecia; she might have decided that her mother wouldn't be there, and decided to go to Alexandria. But since I didn't know which, I just had to guess (but hope that I was wrong) that she was going to Burmecia. Either way, that's where I had to go. I already said I'd help Freya.

I looked out the window to try and gauge the time of day. I guessed I should've considered us lucky that she didn't use enough to knock us out for the day; from the looks of it, we were only out for a couple of hours. But that was enough of a head start to cause some worry.

Freya seemed ready to take action, as she asked, "Will the gate be open soon?"

Cid chuckled a bit. "I'm sure it is open by now." He paused. "Then again, it is slightly [Gwok curios that no one came to tell us."

As if he knew the future, the door behind us opened, and a soldier came in, saying, "The Falcon's Gate has been opened, Regent."

"Alright," Freya said, "We will go through the gate, and make our way to Gizamaluke's Grotto. It is the fastest way to Burmecia from Lindblum on foot."

I nodded. I wanted to leave as soon as we could. Although I didn't know how Dagger was going to know how to get there (or even if she was going there at all), I didn't like the large amount of time she already had ahead of us.

As I made sure I had my pouch and weapons, I noticed that Vivi was still asleep. I went over to him and shook him awake, and we finally left.

As we made our way to the bottom floor and rode the cable car to Dragon's Gate, we finally made our way into the open plains between Burmecia and Gizamaluke's Grotto. As expected, the air was gloomy and thick with Mist. Not so thick that it impaired our vision, but enough to make lookouts for monsters necessary. I got out my map and tried to calculate the best route, and figure out how much time it would take to get there. Right now, it was pushing evening. If we kept our pace quick, we could get there by midday tomorrow.

And that felt like it would be a long time.

- - - - -

**Interlude**

Dagger wasn't sure how long she and Steiner had been gone. All she knew was that they were somewhere between Lindblum and the Grand Citadel South Gate.

Although she hadn't known this area very well, she knew enough that the way from Lindblum to Alexandria on foot would be to go through the Grand Citadel South Gate, take some kind of cable car to the summit, take another cable car to Treno, and find some kind of airship transportation to Alexandria. Apparently, she hadn't wasted time when she was reading map books in the library.

The only problem was, she knew the transportations, but she had no idea how to tell where she was without a map.

And Steiner hadn't been much help either.

"I-I believe we are going the right way, Princess," Steiner stuttered, trying to reassure her while looking back and forth. He had been traveling with his sword drawn the whole time, as if he was afraid a monster would jump out of the mist and devour Dagger. "And, I apologize… I-I should have thought to bring a map-"

"It's alright, Steiner," Dagger said. He finally left it at that, and kept his eyes out for monsters as they continued their steady pace through the mist.

Dagger sighed quietly. Although Steiner was appearing somewhat frightened toward the thought of monsters coming near her, she felt anything but. She didn't need to be when overly tense Steiner was next to her, ready to go berserk on anything that dared come near them (although nothing had bothered them yet). Plus, she had her own weapon; she ran to her room and grabbed it before they left (although she kept hers sheathed). Instead, she was a bit frightened to learn that they may be lost, and had no means of finding out where they were. She had decided this venture on a whim, and didn't think to prepare. All she had thought about was that she had to get out of there before anyone knew she was gone. She hadn't mapped anything out, and hadn't thought to bring much with her. Although she had her weapon, a small sack of food that she gathered from the dining hall (Steiner was currently carrying it in his sword-free hand) and Steiner. And it didn't help that she was feeling afraid of what might happen if she talked to her mother. Would she refuse to admit what she had done, or maybe take offense to Dagger's suspicions? But no matter, Dagger had to talk to her. She was very disappointed that her Uncle, the one person she believed could get through to the Queen, was not with her. But she knew she had to go. She couldn't sit around and wait.

But now, she had to worry about how she was even going to get there.

After a few more minutes of silent walking, a clump of trees appeared overhead. The two travelers noticed at the same time. Dagger didn't know that there would be woodland around this part of the route. It either told her that she didn't remember this part of the map she saw in the book as well as she thought, or they were off course. Either way, the woods stretched from left to right, so they would have to go through them to continue.

After a slight reluctance from Steiner, they entered the trees. It left the air around them darker than before, and gave a gloom to the mood of the air. Dagger hoped they wouldn't be in here for long.

After a few minutes, she was surprised to hear something ahead. At first, she wasn't sure what it was. It was a slightly high-pitched sound, like that of a large bird. As they neared, she recognized the sound as a 'kweh.'

Almost as suddenly as they had found the woods, the path ahead opened, and they entered a large clearing. And they didn't expect to see what lay in it.

A large area, about two hundred square feet in size, was covered with lush green grass. Despite the gloom of the trees that surrounded it, the area gave a friendlier feel, with a slight increase in lighting, and warmer air.

And just ahead, there were two large, yellow birds. They were facing each other, wings fanned and squawking as if in an argument. Dagger recognized them right away as Chocobos. Although she had never seen a real one, she had seen them in books. And in front of them was a small creature that Dagger couldn't see well at this distance.

"Alright, that's enough, Kupo," the small creature said casually, waving a small fist through the air. The birds hummed quietly before halting their bickering and facing the creature. "We've got to get along now, ok?"

As one of the chocobos hummed softly, Dagger considered the discovery. Maybe they could ask the little creature for directions? Now that she watched it talk to the chocobos, she saw a small, red pom-pom bobbing on its head. Only Moogles had those. Again, she had never seen one, but read about them. So, maybe this one was familiar with the area, and would be able to tell them which way to go.

Turning her head slightly and keeping her gaze on the creatures, Dagger said, "Maybe we can ask that Moogle for directions."

Steiner glanced at Dagger, then at the Moogle, his movements slightly jumpy. "Alright." He tightened the grip around his sword. "Let's just be careful."

Dagger couldn't help but sigh quietly, shaking her head. Although she had brought him along for companionship and protection, she felt that he was overdoing his concern.

The two walked forward, keeping their gaze on the animals. Dagger hoped that this wasn't considered an intrusion. As they neared, the soft coos of the chocobos quieted, and all three heads turned toward them. Luckily, they didn't appear angry. The chocobos twittered softly, their heads cocking to the side curiously at the new inhabitants in the forest.

Once they were a few feet away, the two stopped in their tracks, and Dagger gave a small wave. "Hello," she said politely.

The moogle looked up at her, his red nose bobbing slightly, as if sniffing the air. "Hello, Kupo," he said, raising his paw in a wave. "How can I help you?"

"Well," Dagger started, glancing at the chocobos. The creatures were fascinating her. She had never seen anything like them up close before. "We were wondering if you could give us directions." She looked a bit sheepish. "We're a little lost."

The moogle nodded. "Of course." He spread his small arms out, as if in greeting. "Welcome to Chocobo's Forest." He put a paw on his chest. "I'm Mene." He gestured at the Chocobos. "This is Choco and Choci." The large birds flitted their wings, twitting softly as if knowing they were being introduced.

"It's nice to meet you," Dagger said. "I'm… Dagger." She had to stop herself from saying 'Garnet'. Although she doubted they would know about a missing Princess, she didn't want her name known anywhere if possible. She couldn't use it until she got back to Alexandria.

The moogle nodded. "Where do you need to go?" He didn't ask for Steiner's name, which was ok with Dagger.

"The Grand Citadel South Gate."

The moogle put a paw on his chin and turned his squinted eyes toward the trees, his nose ever bobbing. He looked back at Dagger and said, "That would be Northeast from here, Kupo." He pointed a paw to his left and said, "It's about half a day's walk from here."

_Half a day…_ Dagger thought. That was longer than she hoped. It was already late in the day, and she didn't want to be traveling during the night. She wanted to get to Alexandria as fast as possible.

The moogle lowered his pointing paw and gestured toward the chocobos. "If you like, these two can take you there."

Dagger looked at the moogle, then at the chocobos. Ride a chocobo?

"They'll cut your traveling time in half," the moogle said, looking at the chocobos, who proceeded in pecking at each other with playful squeaks, flitting their wings restlessly. The moogle chuckled. "Granted, they're a little jumpy, and they don't always get along well. But they'll get you there lickety-split."

Although Dagger had never ridden a chocobo before, therefore she didn't know how, she appreciated the offer. Anything to get to the gate faster.

"Ok. Thank you."

"No problem, Kupo." He turned to the fussing birds and said, "Alright you two, listen up." The birds ceased their bustling.

Mene looked at them sternly, but his voice was a soft, straight forward command. "I want you two to take these guys to gate by the mountains. Ok?"

The birds cooed excitedly, their wings fanning with anticipation.

Mene raised a stern finger. "But you have to behave, and come right back as soon as they get there. Got it?"

One bird softly cooed in answer, and the other simply satisfied an itch beneath his wing.

Mene nodded, and said, "Ok. Be good, Kupo."

As Dagger and Steiner rode the birds to their destination, Dagger found her mind empty of any previous worry or concern. She found the experience a relaxing, yet exciting way to travel. Granted, it took a little time to get used to riding such large, giddy creatures. They must have been excited as to the idea of transporting people from here to there. But the first few stretches were enough to get the feel of the ride. And it gave her a sense of tranquility; almost like nothing mattered except the breeze that gently brushed against her raven locks. It was a moment to remember the feeling of peace; one that she hadn't felt for a long time.

- - - - -

Settling for the night wasn't the easiest thing to do. Freya and I both wanted to continue on our way, both feeling that any wasted time would only give the army in Burmecia a chance to make things worse. But we also came to an agreement that showing up to a possible war un-rested was suicide.

The most secluded camping area we could find was adjacent to a clump of tall pines. A fire was soon made, and a simple dinner had already been consumed. We just lay on our makeshift beds, trying to find the sleep that, at the present moment, refused to come.

I began to count the stars above me, lying on my back with my hands laced behind my head. It didn't matter that my _body_ could find sleep. It just seemed as if my _mind_ couldn't.Of course I was worried about the events in Burmecia, but I couldn't help but let my concerns mostly focus on Dagger. I didn't think she had any idea what she was getting herself into. Sure, it was possible that she wasn't headed for Burmecia, so maybe some of my concerns were for naught. But either way, why would she impulsively make such a drastic decision? Even if she was headed for Alexandria, did she know how to get there? Did she know the dangers of going there on foot, most likely unprepared? Well, maybe she had considered the danger; she _did _bring Steiner. But what did she plan on doing if she got there? From what I recall, she wouldn't be able to say anything to her mother without her Uncle.

Well, obviously she felt that there wasn't any time to waste. She knew that there would be too much time between South Gate's repairs and her journey back to Alexandria with her Uncle. She didn't think it was a good idea to wait anymore. She knew something had to be done.

The only problem was; how was she going to do it?

"What, may I ask, is the princess up to?"

I almost jumped as the voice broke me out of my reverie. I tilted my head to the left, only to meet Freya's gaze.

But I was slightly puzzled at her question. "What do you mean?"

Freya leaned her weight against her elbow, saying, "I would like to know why she put us all to sleep and ran off. And I assume you know why."

Well, although she had been updated on the events during the journey to Lindblum, I hadn't told her the conversation I had with Dagger at the castle. And that had some information that might answer some questions.

I rolled onto my side, then righted myself into a sitting position. I glanced at Vivi (who hadn't had any trouble giving into his body's plea for sleep), and said, "Well, I think I do."

- - - - -

**Interlude**

Dagger watched the chocobos retreat, ever chirping and making attempts to provoke the other into a pecking match. Just as Mene had said, they headed immediately for home after she and Steiner had been dropped off a short ways away from South Gate.

But there was a problem. South Gate, as she knew it would be, was guarded. She wasn't sure how they were going to get past the two soldiers positioned on either side of the gate, but felt that it may have to wait. As much as she wanted to get to Alexandria, night had fallen, and she was exhausted. Granted, she rode a chocobo here, but she had been on foot before that. And she had yet to become accustomed to so much traveling.

So, the two found a resting area close to the edge of a stretch of woods, a ways away and around a corner from the gate. But, because Dagger hadn't planned any of this traveling, there would be no blanket, and no fire, therefore no heat or light.

After silently consuming some of the food that had been packed, they found themselves getting ready for sleep (which meant standing guard and falling asleep standing up for Steiner), as neither really knew what else to do. They wouldn't be able to plan or do anything until the next day.

After finding the most comfortable position she could on the thankfully soft grass, Dagger, more easily than she assumed, found her way to sleep.

- - - - -

As previously calculated, we were able to make it to Gizamaluke's Grotto at midday the next day. After I talked to Freya the night before, we finally managed to get some rest. Rest that we knew we would need.

Especially now that we had an idea of what we would be dealing with.

Freya was kneeling next to the body of a Burmecian soldier by the entrance of the Grotto, fruitlessly trying to wake him up. The pool of blood he lay in made it apparent that he was dead.

Finally, Freya gave up. She stood up, her back rigid with anger. I didn't know what to say, so I remained silent. I was sure she had expected this, but I knew it didn't make it any easier.

She turned around, her eyes flashing with disbelief and anger. She opened her mouth to say something, but her angry visage dropped, and was replaced with horror.

"The King!" she exclaimed. Without saying another word, she turned and bolted into the entrance to the Grotto. After getting Vivi's attention away from the dead soldier, we followed after her.

Apparently, the attack had spread farther than Burmecia. The grotto was miles away from the city, so it proved that more than one area had been hit. Although it was possible that the attacking army had simply come through here as their route to Burmecia as we had, it still worried me. We didn't know why these attacks had happened and what their goal was. All we knew was that the army consisted of Black Mages, and was being commanded by Queen Brahne.

We entered a narrow hall as we ran through the cave. There wasn't much around us, other than a door just ahead. Freya slowed her pace a bit, seeming to realize that losing her temper would only lower her concentration and make it harder to fight. That is, if we had to fight already.

Without much more thought, Freya threw open the door, and we all ran inside a large room. A bridge hung just overhead, and a large door rested in the wall on the other side of the room.

But what caught our attention were the things happening _in_ the room.

Just ahead, there was a Black Mage standing in front of another fallen Burmecian soldier. And up on the bridge were two more, both looking down at us with glaring yellow eyes. The sight sent my stomach for a loop.

But standing between the Black Mages were possibly the _weirdest _things I've ever seen.

And _that's_ saying something.

At first glance, they looked like short clowns; thanks to the crowned hats and striped clothes they wore. But their faces weren't very similar to a human's; their skin was gray and drawn, and their eyes held slitted pupils that bore into your eyes with malice. To put it bluntly, they looked like sinister little circus creatures.

But who were they? What were they doing here?

The one wearing blue stripes was the first to speak. "Who is that?"

The red one looked at the other, saying, "That, I don't know."

"Don't they look familiar?"

The red turned to look at us, his head cocking oddly to the side. It creeped me out. "Look familiar, they do not."

The blue one paused, then said, "Never mind. Let's just kill them."

The red one jumped up and down elatedly. "Yes! Kill them shall we!"

With that command, the two Black Mages standing on either side of them leapt off the bridge, landing right in front of us. As we all grabbed our weapons from their respective sheaths, my stomach clenched. I'd never fought a Black Mage, and I didn't like the thought of fighting them after seeing what they'd already done to other people. But that made it apparent (along with the comment from the creepy clown guy) that we were all officially fighting for our lives.

In unison, the Black Mages lifted their hands and shot large shards of ice at us. Freya was the first to react, jumping forward and spinning her javelin out in front of her like a fan, blocking the attack and shattering the ice like glass. As the shards sprinkled the ground, she took a firm grip on the javelin's handle and thrust the point through one of the mage's stomachs. As the mage drew his last breath, Freya expertly swung her weapon in a full circle, throwing her victim across the room and slashing the second in the face, killing him instantly.

As the mage fell to the ground, I had to stop my jaw from following suit. Despite the life threatening situation, that had to be the best and most strategized fighting style I'd ever seen. I guess when she said she could kick my butt, she wasn't kidding.

"EEEEK!!! Savage monsters, they are!"

"Run away!!!"

I looked up as the freaky clown voices spoke. As my gaze met them, I found them running for their lives. It wasn't long before they ran the length of the bridge and disappeared from sight. It actually left some questions. Like, who were they? Why were there Black Mages here when they were supposed to be in Burmecia?

"Do you know who they were?"

Freya's questioning probed me to move my gaze to her. She was watching the area the clowns were last seen, wiping the end of her weapon with a cloth.

"Uh…" I said, glancing back up at the spot. It was then that I remembered they said we looked familiar. But they didn't look familiar to me.

"No."

"Hm." Freya pocketed the soiled cloth, then looked at the door just ahead. "Whoever they were, they must be under Queen Brahne's instruction. They must have stayed behind with a few Black Mage soldiers to clear out this area before joining the army in Burmecia."

I like it when my questions are answered before I voice them.

Freya finally removed her gaze from the bridge and looked at me. "And that tells me that their army must be large if they can afford to leave any behind."

She was right. Even though there weren't many left behind, it still gave us a hint of the number that may be waiting in Burmecia.

As Freya's eyes moved from me and looked next to me, I followed her gaze. I found Vivi standing still, his weapon still held fast in his hands, his eyes locked on one of the mage's bodies.

I couldn't believe I didn't notice until then. I could only _guess _what was going on in Vivi's mind. How was watching members of his long lost race be killed right in front of him making him feel? And what about the fact that they had attacked us without so much as a thought after they were commanded to?

"Vivi…" I started, but lost any other words. What was I supposed to say?

Freya took it upon herself to speak to him. She sheathed her weapon and walked over to him, kneeling down so she was eye level with him. Vivi's stare remained steadfast on the dead mage.

"Vivi," Freya said. He looked at her. After a pause, she said, "I am sorry. You should know that I had no choice."

After another pause, Vivi said, "I know." He lowered his hands so they were dangling at his sides, the edges of his weapon lying on the ground. "It's not as if I… didn't know this would happen." He returned his stare to the mage. "I knew we would have to fight them, and that they were… bad…" He paused. "I just hoped it wouldn't."

When Freya didn't proceed, I sheathed my daggers and followed suit with her position. She stood up and took a step away, giving me the floor.

"Vivi," I started, making his stare turn to me. I paused, wanting to choose the right words. "I know this can't be easy. But remember that these guys _aren't_ bad. Someone is _making_ them do this stuff. It's not their fault." Although I knew that only covered half of his concerns, I didn't know how to voice the rest.

Another pause, longer than the ones before, followed. We allowed the silence to emit as Vivi considered everything.

Finally, he looked at us, a hint of something different in his eyes. It looked like a shimmer of hope, and a hint of determination and anger.

"Then let's help them."

I'm not sure if I've ever given this little guy credit for his courage.

I simply nodded, feeling that no more words were needed. I wanted to help in every way I could, but I knew Vivi would have to make decisions for himself in the end. He would help us, no matter what it came to, in hopes of finding the one behind the mages' control, and a hope of finding a way of helping them.

After I stood up, we all continued on our way in silence (the third Black Mage must have disappeared along with the clowns). The pre-war battle all gave us a preview and taste of what was sure to come. But we also knew that we each had a part in it, and we would work together to see what help we could be in Burmecia.

And my part was to protect my friends.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -

_Shorter chapter than usual, but I thought that would be a nice place to stop._

_As I said before, I will now answer any questions you have here or through a private message._

_**DMM:**__ Thanks for the great reviews and your interest in this story._

_**Final Poke Mario Fan:**__ Thank you. I'm glad that you appreciate this._

_**VampireLadii2:**__ Thanks, and I hope you enjoyed the update._

_Sorry if I missed anybody, but from now on, I will try to get back to everyone who leaves a review._


	10. Chapter 10

_First update of 2008! Yay!_

_Sorry, I know this update took a long time, but hey, at least I got it up right? I hope you find that it was worth waiting this long for. Enjoy!_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**Interlude **

She thought they smelled bad enough from a distance.

But _this_ was just _ridiculous._

Dagger took advantage of every hint of oxygen she could maintain out of the small hole that provided her only source of air. Keeping silent was no easy task, what with the constant gasping from lack of proficient oxygen and the stench around her that could have passed for a nauseous gas. Even as she pressed her lips against it, the stench around her still felt equal to an air restrictor. But she tried to appreciate the presence of any fresh air at all, knowing there could just as well have been none. That is, if she had forgotten to put a hole in the bag after the 'brilliant' idea of smuggling herself through South Gate in a sack of Gysahl Pickles. It was the only thing she was able to come up with as she and Steiner tried to think of a way to sneak past the guards without a disturbance. Steiner could walk through unnoticed, but Dagger had to be concealed someway. Even though they were on their way back to the castle anyway, she didn't want to be found and brought back forcefully. But their resources were limited as they were forced to choose something from a nearby cart that held a worker's supplies. She didn't want to steal the items, so she managed to get Steiner to buy something from him. Unfortunately, the closest thing was a sack that contained the worst of the putrid items Dagger had ever smelled.

Yeah. Not her greatest idea.

She tried not to focus on all of her discomforts as Steiner conversed with the guards. She hoped he was sticking to his story. He was supposed to say that he was going to the gate summit to work.

"Sir, we have to check your bag."

Dagger's breath (or whatever she could call her current intake of air) caught in her chest. What was Steiner doing!? If the guards looked in the bag they'd get caught!

There was a pause, then she felt the bag move and settle on the ground. As her heart began to pound, the bag began to shuffle as one of the guards tried to undo the knot. What was she going to do?

"UUUGH!!"

…Maybe she was worrying for nothing.

"What are those… rotten things!?"

"They're not rotten!" she heard Steiner protest. "They're Gyshal pickles!" The guard started tying the bag. After calming down a bit, Dagger almost gagged as she remembered Steiner saying he actually liked those things. Hearing someone so disgusted by them probably offended him.

"Well… uh," the second guard said, "You can just go through."

Dagger sighed with great relief. "Thank you," Steiner said as he lifted the bag and hoisted it over his shoulder. One of the guards nodded while the other handed Steiner a piece of parchment. "Here's your gate pass. Use it to pass the Gate Summit after you ride the cable car." After he took the ticket the other guard opened the gate.

Steiner crept through the gate with a large smile. "You've done it Princess!" he whispered somewhat loudly. Dagger wanted to tell him to be quieter but decided against it as she heard people around them. A talking bag would draw attention. He walked for a while and the sounds began to quiet down. When they all but ceased, she felt the bag settle on the ground once again and the rustle of the top being undone.

As soon as the bag was open Dagger stood up, knocking the pickles out of the way as the whole bundle began to spill on the floor of the alleyway she found herself in. She took in a grateful breath of fresh air as she stepped out of the jumble. Steiner kept trying to take her by the arm to support her as if he thought she was deathly ill.

"Are you alright Princess!?" he asked, finally giving up on trying to support her as she shooed him away with a few small waves of her hand. "Perhaps it would have been better if we tried to leave the pickles behind, or maybe the hole wasn't big enough-"

"It's alright Steiner," she said, finally finding her breath. She paused long enough to inspect her clothes. They were still dry as the pickles weren't wet. They must have been packaged a bit differently. She sniffed her sleeve hesitantly. Luckily the odor was so minimal that she was sure a few minutes of fresh air would air them out. She brushed the sleeve a bit, then looked at Steiner. "And you can't call me Princess. We're trying to hide, remember?"

Steiner straightened up and said, "Yes, Pri- I mean, Miss Dagger."

Dagger simply nodded. He needed to work on that, although she didn't blame him for slipping up so often.

Exiting the alleyway the opposite way they came, the two headed for the cable car they knew awaited them (if they were on schedule that is). Although Dagger thought it might not be safe to show herself, the guards were really the ones she needed to hide from. Although they would soon be back in Alexandrian territory she doubted anyone would recognize her.

Luckily, they found the cable car up ahead and entered after showing the driver their ticket. After scanning the seats they chose a row on the right side. Dagger sat down, but Steiner (surprise, surprise) stood next to it and stood tall as if guarding. Dagger wanted to tell him to sit down; a soldier standing guard next to a young woman would definitely look suspicious when a princess was missing (and she wouldn't be surprised if people were looking for him too). But she let him do what he wanted. He already had a few rules to follow that he didn't approve of, and he had already gone through so much for her.

As the car began to jerk into motion and pull away from the station, Dagger started considering what she just thought. It reminded her that other people had gone through so much for her too. Her Uncle was probably worried sick about her; she just left without considering how her actions would make him feel. And even though Vivi went with them because he didn't know how to get anywhere by himself, he had gone through the dangers she caused, like the Black Waltzes.

And Zidane… She'd probably never see him again. But he helped her through more than she ever expected. Not just keeping her safe and guiding her on her journey to Lindblum. He was always there when she needed someone to talk to. He treated her like a person, not royalty. Sure, he was respectful of her royal heritage; but he didn't try to pamper her and do everything for her. He made her feel like she could take care of herself and like she had the right to make her own decisions. She couldn't remember anyone else treating her that way. Sure, her father treated her that way before he died, and her mother had before she changed. But they were her parents. Zidane treated her like a _friend._ It made her feel ashamed to realize what she did in return. But he was siding with the others about her safety. She had to. But there was a kind of connection in their friendship that wouldn't let her forget what he had done for her. And how would she ever get to apologize? She'd never see him again. She hated that she had left their friendship in such a seemingly ungrateful way. But hopefully he understood why she had done what she did. As long as he forgave her, she would be ok.

But she would miss having the first friend that treated her the way she wanted to be treated. Like a person. And made her feel the way she wanted to feel. Like she could make her own decisions.

Like she was free.

- - - - -

Even though I knew what awaited us in Burmecia, I at least hoped the weather would agree with us.

Of course, I forgot that Burmecia is the Realm of Eternal Rain.

There were a few ups and downs to what we found when we took our first steps into the city. The good things; no sign of Black Mages, and no sign of Dagger. Although I wasn't sure at first whether to classify that as a good or bad thing, I decided it was better that she wasn't here. The farther she stayed away from the war the better. The bad things; there were no signs of the residents, and I was already soaking wet. Ok, the latter probably sounded like I was complaining, but the rain was cold and the knowledge that I would stay wet until we left wasn't very comforting. Although it was technically called the realm of 'eternal' rain, it had a few seasons where it stopped. Most places have a rainy season, but Burmecia had a 'not rainy' season. As far as I knew, it wasn't very long. And it was apparent to anyone that it wasn't occurring now, either.

Freya didn't seem to notice that she was drenched too. I think it was a combination of being accustomed to it, what with growing up here, and the feelings toward seeing her home for the first time in years.

After a few moments of silence, other than the constant shower of rain pattering against the cobblestone path, Freya drew her weapon from her back clad sheathe. Using a hushed pitch, enough to hinder the hearing of any that may have been trying to listen, but enough for us to hear over the patter of rain, she said, "We need to search for any people that may have been left behind." Her tone was surprisingly collected. "If there were survivors, they've surely left by now, but some may have been left behind in a commotion. And the enemy may be nearby. Be on your guard."

Vivi and I both retrieved our own weapons and we all started forward. I knew whatever we would find here wouldn't be something any of us wanted to see. I took a readying breath, not able to picture what it would look like, but knowing it would be something I'd never seen before (and something I never wanted to see). But if we could make a difference, this trip would be worth it.

As we cleared the city's entrance, the evidence of battle was painfully obvious. Stone pillars that once stood tall adjacent to doors leading to various houses were shattered all over the ground. Some visible staircases had been completely destroyed, building tops had caved in, and worst of all, there were bodies scattered among the rubble. My chest clenched. It was the first time I had seen so much death. I glanced at the others. Vivi's eyes were wide but his pace was steady. Freya's face appeared impassive, but her eyes shone with pain and anger. I found it better to remain silent and do what we came here for.

We proceeded through the city, rain pounding down on our shivering bodies, walking cautiously around each corner and keeping our wits about us for any sign of an enemy. But so far we'd found nothing but more destruction. No one had said a word since we entered, as no one could find anything to say. And it was crucial to keep silent to keep our position unknown to any enemies that might have been awaiting us. Even in the silence, I had to admit that fear was beginning to come to me. I'd never been in any situation as dangerous as this, never knowing when something would be around the corner. And I'd never been anywhere near anything as serious as a war. It was a bit unnerving. But I somehow managed to keep it together. Perhaps because I had confidence in my own skills and knew that Vivi and Freya were just as prepared for battle as me.

Freya was in the lead, eyes expertly scanning each area and corner around us. She informed us a bit ago that we were heading for the king's chambers. So far we found no survivors, but Freya said that some must have escaped, as the body count was too short to be the entire city. But we had to make sure that the king escaped with anyone who managed to get away.

After traveling up two flights of long stairs, the palace came into view. Unfortunately, we found what we hoped we wouldn't. The large entrance doors were completely destroyed. All that remained were large chunks of stone, lying in a pile blocking the entrance. We all stood there, looking at the door's remains. It was clear evidence that the palace had been invaded. And that made the king's survival less likely. So maybe coming here was pointless. We didn't find any survivors and the enemy seemed long gone. But where did they go? And why did they attack Burmecia in the first place?

But for now, I didn't know what to say to Freya. I could tell by the strained look on her face that she doubted the king survived. But the question really was… what do we do now?

I opened my mouth to say something, but I was interrupted as Freya's strained complexion disappeared, and her eyes widened. Without saying anything, she took a great leap and landed on the balcony above the door. She turned to look at us and shouted down, "Get up here now! I hear something in the palace!" She almost sounded annoyed that we weren't up there already. Before I could say anything, she turned and bolted out of sight.

I blinked, then sighed. I didn't understand why she thought _all _people could jump that high. Or how she thought we would know she was gonna jump before she did. But that was Freya for you. Impatient when it was important and expecting you to keep up with her. On foot that was no problem, but in times like this it was crazy.

With a small shake of my head, I sheathed my daggers and walked over to a large statue next to the door. I eyed it up and down, checking for enough holds and crevices to be a good climbing spot. Other than the rain that left it slippery and dangerous, it didn't look that bad.

"Come on, Vivi," I said. He put his staff away and followed me as I began climbing the statue.

After about two close calls and one little leap after finding an area with no holds, I managed to make it up to the balcony. After a sigh of relief, I looked down to see how Vivi was doing. He was only about half way up.

"Vivi, can you make it?" I said over the rain. There was a pause, and he called, "Yeah, I think so."

I debated momentarily on my next move. I could wait for him, but whatever Freya heard might be trouble. I figured it was a better idea to go and back her up.

"If you're ok here, I'm gonna go ahead and meet Freya," I called down.

"Ok," he called back. I felt bad for leaving him, but I knew he could make it. I turned and walked down the corridor.

The path was dark, other than an occasional stream of moonlight peaking through the cracks in the walls. I found a flight of stairs and crept down them, seeing as they had to be the only way Freya could have gone. As I reached the bottom, an open area came into view. It appeared to be a large cobblestone courtyard.

But what caught my eye were the two people standing in the middle of it.

I ducked to the left and hid behind some statues. I peeked past one to see if they noticed me. They hadn't.

"Get over here."

I almost jumped as a hushed, yet sudden voice called to my left. I looked and saw Freya a few statues over. I blinked, then crept over to her and knelt down beside her.

"Where's Vivi?" she asked.

"He's on his way," I said. She brushed it off as an afterthought and looked at the people. I followed suit.

Now that I was closer, the two figures were easy to recognize. I was shocked to see that the first one was Queen Brahne. So she _did _come to Burmecia… And that just backed up Dagger's story that the Black Mage army was hers and she was the one who ordered the attack. And speaking of Dagger, she wasn't there, so that probably meant she thought the queen was in Alexandria. Then again, the queen would probably be back by the time Dagger got there. …But was that a good thing? I started wondering if she was ok. Would she make it to Alexandria? And would she even be safe if she did?

"I knew she was behind this."

I looked at Freya as she spoke. "So did I." It was obvious when we pieced together Dagger's stories and the things we found in Dali.

Freya shook her head. "No. I knew something was going on with the Queen before you told me of the princess's findings. Rumors said that she was looking to take over Burmecia. I thought they were nothing but talk." She shrugged. "Until you told me what the princess had found."

I frowned in thought. She never told me that she already suspected something going on. She must have realized that the rumors were true when I talked to her in the bar and made the decision to come here, based on the attack and what she already knew. But the question was still, why would Queen Brahne want to take over the country? Why did she need to rule it?

Thoughts still lingering, I turned my gaze to the queen. Now the figure next to her caught my eye. She was tall, clad with white armor and long, golden hair. Although I'd never seen her before, I knew who she was. When Tantalus went to kidnap Dagger we had to know who was guarding the palace. And there had been enough stories told about her anyway. Not good ones either.

"That's Beatrix," I said, motioning in her direction with a small tilt of my head. "She's Alexandria's top General. If she's here, they definitely have something big going on."

Freya turned her attention to Beatrix. "Really?" she said, more rhetorically than in curiosity. I nodded. As Freya remained silent, I hoped she wasn't thinking about attacking her for revenge or questions. She had to know how strong the General was. From what I'd heard, you were lucky to get out of a battle against her alive.

Through the rain, I heard the soft click of footsteps, making me turn my attention to the right. As I looked, I saw a man approach the queen. I didn't recognize him, so it made me wonder what he was doing there. He stood in front of the queen and examined the sky above him. I strained my ears to make out the conversation that had just started.

"The rain… it feels quite pleasant, doesn't it?" His tone held a strange kind of tranquil quality, yet there was drop of malice hidden behind the smooth way he used his words. Like a snake. It sent a small shiver down my spine. "It seems as though it is celebrating our victory."

Queen Brahne looked at the man, fan casually fanning her face (why did she need that here? It definitely wasn't hot. Must be for something proper). "Yes, this victory is wonderful. Kuja, your Black Mages made this pitiful town easy to defeat."

Wait… _his _Black Mages? So that was where she was getting them? My eyes widened as something made a connection. Dagger mentioned a strange man showing up at the castle. The Black Mages showed up not long after. Kuja was the mystery man. But why was he doing this? Where did he get the Black Mages?

"Now we must take care of the King and prevent these little rats from coming up against us ever again!" Brahne continued. I glanced at Freya. Her eyebrows were furrowed with growing fury. Although this let us know that the king was ok, the relief was fleeting when they said they wanted to get rid of him.

Kuja switched his gaze from the sky to the ground, folding his arms and shaking his head. "Don't waste your time looking here," he said smoothly.

"What?" Beatrix said, speaking for the first time since we got there.

Kuja tapped a foot against the cobblestones, then looked up. "When rats sense an earthquake, they seek shelter. He's surely fled to the sandy tree house by now."

"Cleyra?" Queen Brahne asked. She paused, her fan gradually moving slowly. "There must be some way to get past them," she said, her voice full of angered determination. "Kuja, there must be something you can do with your powers."

Kuja bent low in a bow, silver hair falling over his shoulder. "Why of course, your majesty." As he stood up, he said, "I know you will be pleased as I show you what I can do. But perhaps you should gather your own troops near Cleyra as well. It is the last safe haven for these rats, and they will undoubtedly attack full force."

"We can't let them get to Cleyra," Freya hissed. I agreed. It was enough that the Burmecians had to flee. If they were attacked when they thought they were safe… it just wasn't right.

"Where is Cleyra? And what do they mean sandy tree house?" I didn't mean to change the subject, but I'd never heard of it.

"It's a ways southwest from here," Freya answered, eyes still boring into the people ahead. "It's called the sandy tree house because it's a large tree protected by a sandstorm. The Cleyrans founded the place after some trivial conflicts between people in Burmecia. Some stayed here and some went to live there. Although they hadn't always gotten along, they're willing to help each other in circumstances such as these. That's why the Burmecians are seeking shelter there."

I paused, then nodded. It sounded pretty odd for a tree to be guarded by a sandstorm. It made me wonder how it was maintained and how they removed it when they needed to leave (or let the Burmecians in).

But I held my questions as I saw another figure coming from the right. It was a Burmecian, running straight for Beatrix, sword drawn and battle clad in armor. He came to a stop and held his battle stance as Beatrix reached for her sword.

"Burmecia will _never_ fall! Prepare to pay for your actions!"

_NOT good._

Freya jumped to her feet and ripped her weapon from her sheathe. I followed suit immediately after. Exchanging a quick nod of agreement, we both jumped from our hiding place and ran toward the upcoming battle.

"You dare to fight Beatrix of Alexandria?" Beatrix challenged. The Burmecian backed away, stuttering, "B-Beatrix?"

Freya and I arrived a second later, battle stances posed next to the Burmecian. Freya looked at him and said, "Get out of here!" He nodded once, then turned and ran.

Beatrix turned to us immediately, ripping her sword from her sheathe. She cast her gaze back and forth, a grin of anticipation on her lips. "You dare challenge me?" she questioned.

I remained silent. As much as I was glad that we saved the Burmecian, I doubted we would be able to fight her and get out alive, even with Freya's abilities and our combined skills. I glanced at the queen, who was backing away from us, a malicious smile evident across her face. She looked like she would enjoy whatever fate we endured.

Freya spun her Javelin and tucked the middle under her arm, planting her feet far apart and furrowing her eyebrows deeply in Beatrix's direction. "I will _not_ let you hurt my people. I _will_ stop you."

I braced myself, tightening my grip on my daggers, tail waving back and forth along with the fast pace of my mind. This fight would require and test all of my attention and abilities. I needed them all if I wanted to survive.

At Freya's words, Beatrix laughed. She shook her head, saying, "You are foolish! _No one_ can defeat me! You have decided your own fate!"

She twisted her sword and made a move to stab Freya. But in the same moment, a flash of fire burst onto the blade, causing her to stumble backward.

Stealing one fast glance behind me, I caught sight of Vivi running for the battle, staff drawn and another fire spell forming on his hands. I whipped my head back, giving my full attention to the fight. Freya spun her javelin and blocked a harsh blow from Beatrix's sword. Beatrix shoved the weapon and owner backwards, then spun around in a full circle, bringing her a step backward and deflecting the next fire spell. Even in the rain, the fire flashed brightly. She looked at me and charged.

As she swung downward, I ducked to the left, feet sliding across the cobblestone and thrust my left dagger toward her side. With lightning reflexes, she freed one hand of her hilt and caught my wrist, twisting it sharply and ridding me of my weapon. As my eyes watered and my mind became momentarily blinded with pain, she released my hand and turned swiftly to make a two handed block from Freya's lance.

Taking the distraction as she fought with Freya and blocked Vivi's spell, I turned quickly, picked my fallen weapon from the ground and turned around. As I waited one second for a position to throw the weapon (noting that Freya was sprawled on the ground a little ways away, clutching her side) I whipped it at Beatrix's back. As if she sensed it, she turned and whacked it away with her sword. She gripped the hilt tightly and ran at me, swinging at my head. I ducked quickly and jumped backwards as she attempted another blow to my middle.

I ducked again as she swung, but was too late to realize that it was a trick. She took advantage of my open position and swung the back of her armored hand into my forehead. I was thrown backward, skidding on my side and became blind with pain and surprise.

Groaning slightly, I fought to keep my eyes open. I caught sight of Beatrix standing a ways away, sword held at one side, Freya lying on the ground behind her and Vivi unconscious a ways to her side. She leered down at me, face turned down in a frown of disappointment. "Pathetic," she sighed.

I made a move to lift my head, but decided against it right away as it swam with pain and threatened to claim my consciousness. I watched her as she turned around, warm blood trickling down my head along with the chilly rain. I strained my ears to hear the conversation over the rain that echoed in my ears as I knew I would soon pass out.

"They're not worth my energy," Beatrix said coldly, sheathing her sword. "Let them met their fate as they are."

Brahne brushed away the comment. "Come. We must prepare our attack on Cleyra." Beatrix nodded. "Yes, your Majesty."

As the two walked away, I cast my eyes toward Freya and Vivi. I wanted to get up and check on them. I had no idea how serious their injuries were. But I couldn't even move myself.

Just before I lost consciousness, the man called Kuja stepped into my view a little ways away. He folded his arms and stared down at me.

His mouth upturned into a malicious half grin. "Well, what do we have here… a stray."

Then it all went black.

- - - - -

**Interlude**

It wouldn't be much longer before she would have to face her reason for leaving. As the cable car came to a stop, she began to wonder if she had made the right decision. Would her mother listen to her? She never had before. What would make now any different? All she knew was that she had to at least try. There was nothing else she could do.

Dagger stepped out of the cable car, Steiner right on her heels. She walked down the cobblestone path, a brilliant horizon visible ahead. Their current location was the summit station, which resided on top of a mountain. Alexandria territory. Although they weren't back in the city itself, they had reached the country. But Dagger didn't feel relief from homesickness. The thought of what might await her in this home actually made her feel sick.

Upon entering a small waiting area, Dagger asked the cable car clerk when the car to Treno would be there. Once they reached that city, they would find another type of transportation to get to Alexandria. He said that it would be there shortly and they were welcome to rest until it got there. So, the two refreshed their supplies and sat down for a meal (which was paid for by some money that Dagger had brought with her from Alexandria and had no use for until now, combined with some that Steiner had with him) then sat at the table quietly as they waited.

In the silence, other than the soft conversation of the people that occupied the tables around them, Dagger began to wonder what would happen when she talked to her mother. What would the queen's reaction be? Would she be happy that her daughter returned home, or angry that she had run away in the first place? Then again, didn't she want her home if she had gone to the lengths of sending the Black Waltzes after her? But why use such a forceful and frightening method? Maybe the creatures could find her faster and get around quicker, but why use them to find her? Where did they even come from? Something just didn't seem right about it. But no matter what Dagger had seen, no matter how her mother changed, she knew she was still the same. Deep down, her sweet and caring mother was still there. She would come to her senses eventually, right?

Right?

"RIGHT!?"

Dagger jumped in her chair and spun her upper body around. Her eyes landed on an arch that led out of the resting area. She was pretty sure that the yell came from there. A few other people turned to look, then ignored it.

"Yeah… right."

"What do you mean, 'right'!?"

Dagger was slightly intrigued by the conversation. Partially because it was so sudden, and the pair of voices sounded a little… familiar.

"I mean it _is _your fault that you missed the car again."

"What!? How is it my fault?"

Just then, two people walked through the arch and into the area. Although she wasn't sure how, they looked very familiar.

The taller one, red ponytail hanging behind his back, lifted a hand for emphasis and said, "Every time the car came, I told you it was here, but you said, 'Yeah, yeah! Just let me finish my bundt cake first!' But by the time you were done it left." He lowered his hand. "Then you would get another one, and do it all over again."

The shorter one, plump, shirtless belly and strange complexion, was silent. He couldn't counter that.

As they neared, neither looking in her direction, Dagger's memory was jogged as she got a closer look at their faces. As she looked at the short one, she couldn't help but notice that he was a bit strange looking. _'Yeah, he is a bit scary looking isn't he?'_ Zidane's quote echoed in her head.

Tantalus. They were Zidane's friends. She met that one a little while after she met Zidane, and the other was the lead in the play. What were they doing here?

Dagger turned her head as she heard the sound of a chair being pushed back forcefully. Steiner had caught sight of the two as well, and he didn't look happy. He huffed, eyes glaring in their direction, then marched over to them. Dagger quickly got up to follow him.

Steiner lifted a finger and pointed in their direction. "You!" The two stopped and looked at him. They were a little startled to see some guy in armor address them and approach them with homicide on his face.

Just before he reached them, Dagger caught up to him and stopped him by stepping a little ways ahead and next to him. "Wait, Steiner."

"Princess?"

Dagger turned her head. The taller man was addressing her. She turned to face him, glancing at Steiner's livid face one more time to make sure he would stay put. "Yes." She paused. "You're… members of Tantalus?"

The two shared a glance, then the taller one said, "Yeah. You remember us huh?"

Dagger nodded. "Of course. Although I don't remember your names."

The red haired man poked a thumb to his chest and said, "I'm Marcus," he jerked his thumb in the shorter man's direction, "And this is Cinna."

"Their names do not matter!" Steiner interrupted. He raised a fist, shaking it while glaring deeply at the two. "They're nothing but thieves!"

Marcus and Cinna blinked once at the raged Steiner, shared a glance, then looked at Dagger as Marcus said, "Who's the big tin man?"

"How _dare_ you! I will-"

"Steiner!"

Steiner quit his ranting and looked at Dagger. She didn't look very happy. "Will you please stay quiet? They haven't done anything wrong."

Steiner paused, glancing at the others, then looked back at Dagger, shame-faced, then lowered his head a bit, saying, "I'm sorry Pri- I mean, Miss Dagger."

Dagger felt a bit guilty, but she was tired of his mistrust, no matter how much she appreciated his willingness to protect her. It was the same thing that had happened with Zidane; Steiner always blew up at him even when he hadn't done anything wrong. She just wanted to be able to have a decent conversation with someone without Steiner exploding with anger just because he didn't trust them.

Just then, a bell began to ring through one of the archways. The clerk called ahead that the cable car to Treno had arrived.

To Dagger's slight surprise, Cinna turned to Marcus and said quickly, "Oh! There's your ride!"

"Yeah," Marcus said. He turned around, still looking at Cinna and said, "And I'm not gonna miss it." As he walked off, Cinna followed with a stiff, offended strut. "Yeah, yeah…"

_Marcus is going to Treno too? _Dagger thought. Before she could think anymore into it, she remembered that she and Steiner were supposed to be on the car, and she turned to Steiner and said, "Come on."

Lifting his head and straightening his complexion, he saluted her and said, "Yes, ma'am!"

Dagger almost said something, then decided against it. He seemed like he was finally going to heed her wish of being a little less angry toward the people around them. She turned and walked away, Steiner following.

After passing Cinna, the two entered the car. Other than themselves, there were only two other people aboard, one of them Marcus. He saw them enter and his brows furrowed in question.

Dagger walked down the short isle and met Marcus, who stood by a window. Steiner (surprisingly) stood in the middle of the isle and kept his mouth shut. Dagger was glad that she might be able to have a conversation with someone without being interrupted. Maybe catch up a bit. Come to think of it, she was really curious as to what they had done since she last saw them. And when she last saw them…

She was suddenly reminded of where she had last seen them. According to Zidane, he wasn't sure if any of them had gotten of Evil Forest after it got petrified. But were Cinna and Marcus the only ones that got out? What about Blank? Had he been cured?

"Marcus," she began. "What happened to all of you in Evil Forest?"

Marcus turned to face her. He still seemed a bit surprised that she had entered the same cable car and had the same destination as he did, but he decided to answer her. He paused, scratching the back of his head in thought, then said, "Um… we managed to get out just before it got petrified. Afterwards, we had no idea if you and Zidane and Blank got out. So we found a way to get back in and…" his face softened with slight grief. "We found Blank."

Dagger looked at the floor as a pang of guilt erupted. She still felt that the incident was her fault. Running away then being discovered in the middle of the play was the reason they were attacked, then the reason the ship crashed, then the reason she got lost and the forest was petrified after everyone saved her. And she caused them to lose one of their own. One of their family. Even though she wasn't fully conscious, she could still remember hearing Zidane's reaction after he realized what happened to Blank.

"What about the others?" Dagger asked, lifting her gaze. "Did just you and Cinna get out?"

Marcus shook his head. "No. We all managed to get out and find our way back to Lindblum." He paused as the cable car jerked to life and began to pull away from the station.

He folded his arms, getting comfortable for a long conversation. "While we were there, we gathered information about Blank's condition. We eventually found out about an item called 'Supersoft' that would cure him. Info told us the best place to look for it would be Treno."

Dagger felt a relief wash over her. Everyone had made it out. And if they cured Blank, no one died. Even though she put them in danger, she would have no more reason to feel guilty.

Marcus exhaled loudly with frustration, shaking his head slightly. "And _Cinna_ was supposed to go back to Lindblum to tell everyone we found a cure, but he kept missing the car." Dagger smiled slightly.

Marcus unfolded his arms and got rid of his look of annoyance. "Now it's my turn for questions."

Dagger nodded. "Ok."

He paused, then said, "Well first, where's Zidane?"

Yet again, a bit of guilt found it's way to Dagger. Instead of voicing it right away, she paused, then said, "In Lindblum."

Marcus nodded knowingly. "So he got you there, huh?" He shook his head with a fond smile. "No surprise there."

Dagger was slightly confused. "Huh?"

Marcus smiled and said, "If there's anything I know about Zidane, it's that he always keeps his word." He put on a sarcastic form of annoyance. "And he has this annoying little habit of risking his neck for everybody." He lifted an eyebrow. "My guess would be that he promised you he would get you to Lindblum and you never got a scratch on you, right?"

Dagger blinked. "Well… he never actually promised me, but he did say he'd get me there. And no, I never got hurt."

Marcus folded his arms again. "Hm." He smiled sincerely this time. "That's typical of him."

Dagger couldn't help but smile a bit. Ever since she met Zidane she could tell that he was trustworthy. And he had been a good friend. Now hearing that he acted that way to everyone just proved that she was right to trust him. As much as it made her happy to have known him, it made her feel even worse for the way she repaid him.

Marcus's smile faded a bit, and he said, "Wait. You said he was in Lindblum?"

Dagger paused, then nodded. Marcus frowned.

"What?" Dagger asked.

"We got back to Lindblum the night after the Festival of the Hunt. We never saw him."

Dagger paused, a little confused. She thought about it, then remembered. "He probably went to Burmecia with an old friend named… Freya." She tried to hide any discomfort she felt in thinking about what her mother caused, then said, "There was a battle there and they went to help."

Marcus was silent at first, then his memory was jogged. "Oh yeah. I remember her." He shrugged a hand. "So he went to fight in some battle for a friend huh?" After Dagger nodded, he said, "Again, not surprised."

Dagger didn't comment. Now she just thought about what Zidane might have been doing. If he did go to Burmecia, was he ok?

"Well," Marcus said, bringing Dagger back to attention, "My next question is, what are you doing here?"

Dagger paused. She wasn't sure how to answer that. Partially because the answer might have taken a lot of explaining, and because she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell him.

Marcus seemed to get the hint as a silence followed. Instead of waiting for an answer, he said, "Well, if it's none of my business, don't bother telling me."

"Oh no, that's not it," Dagger said quickly, feeling she may have offended him. She looked at the floor. "I… just don't really want to talk about it." She looked back at him and said, "But I'm going to Treno so I can find a way to get back to Alexandria." She didn't mind telling him where she was going. She just didn't feel like telling him why. Marcus nodded, feeling that that was good enough for him.

Dagger glanced out the window, watching the landscape pull away as the car sped by. Now that she was reminded of where Zidane was, she remembered that he was heading for a battle. Probably a fight with Black Mages. Commanded by her mother. What if something happened to him? She wouldn't be able to stand the thought of him getting hurt because of a war her mother started. Especially not after the way she treated him before she left. She wished she could see him again and tell him that she was sorry. She wished she could think of something she could do for him to make up for what she did and repay him for what he had done for her.

Now that she thought about it, maybe there was something she could do.

"Marcus." As he looked at her, Dagger paused for a moment to think of what to say. It might distract her from her destination, but she wasn't really in that big of a hurry. And how long could it take? She owed something to Zidane. She owed it to Blank too.

"Is… is there anything I can do to help with Blank?" As Marcus frowned questioningly, she added, "I mean, I'm going to be in Treno too, and I'd like to help." Her face turned to a slightly saddened frown. "I was partly responsible for what happened to Blank, so… I'd like to help."

Marcus thought about it. After a minute, he smiled and nodded. "Sure. Finding the Supersoft will be easier with more people." Dagger smiled.

Marcus lifted a finger. "But, we might run into some trouble there. And we might have to do some fighting." He lowered his finger and looked at her seriously. "Can you handle that?"

Dagger nodded without hesitation. "Yes. I've fought in battles before and no one will recognize me."

Marcus nodded. "Yeah, I have no doubt about that." He paused and thought for a second before saying, "Didn't the tin man call you Miss Dagger?"

Dagger nodded, thinking nothing of the way he addressed Steiner. It wasn't intentionally rude. "Yes. That's my new name for cover up."

Marcus smiled. "Not bad. And you talk different too. Zidane taught you didn't he?"

Dagger paused, then shrugged. "Sort of. He suggested it, then I learned by watching some townsfolk have a conversation."

"Hm." Marcus looked past Dagger momentarily, then looked at her. "Um, if you come with me," Marcus said, lifting a finger and pointing past her, "Is he gonna be ok with that?"

Dagger glanced back to see Steiner, standing and watching them, although he kept to himself. She looked back at Marcus. "He might not be happy at first, but he'll come. He'll help too."

Marcus lowered his hand. "Ok. Just make sure you guys are ready."

Once the three made it to the car station, they walked to Treno. Luckily no monsters had bothered them. There wasn't much surprise there, as they were above the thickest mist. Dagger listened to Marcus's story on finding information on the Supersoft and some of Cinna's missed car trips. She told him some of the things that transpired during her trip to Lindblum because Marcus wanted to know what Zidane had been up to. She didn't tell him everything, like finding the Black Mages and the Black Waltzes, but she did mention some of the fun they had and how much she enjoyed Zidane's company. At least they both agreed that Zidane was a good friend and they both were glad to know him.

The trip to Treno took hours, and it was beginning to darken into night by the time they got there. Not counting the fact that Treno was the city of eternal night.

Upon walking into the city, Dagger was exhausted. It was late and she had been traveling all day. But she knew it was vital to find the Supersoft as quickly as possible. She didn't complain about how tired she was. She didn't even think about the fact that she had been interested in sightseeing Treno for years. She just wanted to focus on the matter at hand.

"Okay," Marcus said, leading the way through a door in the back of an Inn. "The Supersoft should be in a warehouse down here. The Boss is already waiting for us."

Dagger paused. "The Boss? Your Boss is here?"

"Uh… yeah," Marcus said. He chuckled slightly in embarrassment. "I guess I forgot to mention that."

"Wait just a moment," Steiner said. They all paused their walking and looked at him. Dagger sighed slightly through her fatigue. He had kept quiet and out of her business until now. She enjoyed it while it lasted.

He frowned, looking at Marcus and said, "If your Boss is here and we are going to a warehouse…" He paused again. As he pieced something together, his eyes widened and he looked at Marcus dangerously. "You're going to _steal_ this thing, aren't you!?"

The realization woke Dagger a bit as her own eyes widened. Why hadn't she thought of that?

Marcus sighed. "Well, it's not like there's anything else we can do. It's the only way we can save Blank."

"Hmph! I will not let you commit a crime right before my very eyes!"

Dagger paused. One of the last things she wanted to do was steal. But if Marcus was right and it was the only way to save Blank… wasn't that more important?

"Well…" she started, making the others look at her. "Maybe we can buy it?"

Marcus paused. "I don't think we can. It's stored down here because it's a rare item that's not for sale. Plus I don't think anyone would like to see us waltz in there and ask if we can buy it."

Dagger paused again, starting to feel warm with the guilt of stealing something. But could she really turn back? She didn't have to be a part of this.

But she wanted to. She owed it to Blank. And to Zidane.

She hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Let's go."

After telling Steiner he could leave if he didn't want to be a part of it (which he refused to because it was 'his duty to watch her, especially around these thieves') they reached the bottom of the stair and met Baku, who stood by a boat.

Upon their arrival, Baku lifted a hand to wave and opened his mouth to say something, but stopped as he realized that Marcus wasn't alone. As the three stopped in front of him, Baku laughed heartily.

"Well, well!" he crowed, "If it ain't the Princess!" He looked at Steiner. "And the head of the Pluto knight fellas!" Steiner growled dangerously under his breath.

Dagger nodded politely. "Hello."

Baku laughed again, then turned to Marcus. "Where'd ya dig these guys up?"

Marcus shook his head. "Long story. Let's just go."

Baku grunted, then looked at Dagger. He frowned a bit, brushing his long mustache with two fingers. "Where's Zidane?"

When Dagger didn't answer, Marcus said, "He's fine. I'll tell you about it later."

Baku frowned a bit, then said, "Whatever. I'm sure the little creep can take care of himself."

Dagger felt resentment burn in her chest. How could he talk about Zidane like that? Although she thought maybe he was mad that Zidane left the band, she didn't find it a reason to talk about him so rudely. Now she knew Zidane was right. Baku wasn't exactly the nicest person.

Baku brushed off his comment, then looked at Dagger. "So, you're gonna let us steal this?"

Dagger pushed aside her anger towards his comments, then said, "I just want to help save Blank. And I'll make sure you don't steal anything else."

Baku chuckled. "Alrighty then, Princess!" He stepped onto the boat. "This way."

After a short ride down an underground waterway, the docked at the door to the storage area. Baku remained in the boat, ready to take off fast if they were caught, and the others went inside.

Closing the door quietly behind them, they were greeted by a large group of boxes, making the search for the Supersoft look like quite a task.

Marcus sighed quietly as he looked at the crates. "Ok, better start looking." He proceeded to a box and began to look through it. Dagger hesitated, then began to walk toward a crate.

Before she reached it, the soft click of an opening door echoed down a stairway to the right, making them all stop in their tracks. Dagger's first thought was to run. They couldn't get caught. But Marcus seemed to have a different idea. Dagger saw his hand edge toward his sword. She felt fear clench her gut. Any fatigue she may have felt disappeared as she thought of what might happen if they were caught. And if they were seen, how did she know Marcus wouldn't kill whoever found them?

"How did I run out of ink again?" a voice echoed down the stairway, followed by footsteps. After a few agonizing, heart rate increasing seconds, a short man appeared at the bottom of the stair. He didn't seem to notice the people in front of him, as he was walking with a hand on his head and his gaze on the floor, seemingly deep in thought.

As he paused at the bottom, Dagger's stomach did a small jump. She knew who this was. Glasses, long nose, wild red hair under a tipped hat…

She turned her head as she heard a sword slowly begin to clear a sheathe. As she saw Marcus drawing his sword, she shook her head and whispered, "No!" Marcus glanced at her, then put the weapon back.

Dagger looked back at the man. He had just lifted his head and was watching them. As they made eye contact she saw his widen as he looked at her.

Slowly, he took a step forward and blinked in disbelief. "P-Princess?"

Dagger was glad to see a friend in such an unexpected place. She took a step forward, smiling sincerely, and said, "Hello, Doctor Tot."

Tot's eyes lit up spectacularly, and he splayed his arms, saying, "Princess Garnet!"

"You know this guy?" Marcus asked.

Steiner answered for her, but as if he needed to educate such an unintelligent person. "He was once the Princess's tutor."

Tot glanced over at Steiner and smiled broadly. "And Master Steiner!" He looked back at Dagger, at first finding nothing to say, then managed, "What are you doing here?"

Dagger hesitated, her smile fading a bit. "Well… it's a long story, but we need something called Supersoft."

"W-We did not want to steal it!" Steiner stuttered. "We just-"

"What going on down there?"

Everyone almost flew out of their skin as another voice carried down the staircase. Tot glanced at the staircase, then looked at Dagger and said quickly and quietly, "I will bring you the Supersoft later. Go to the tower left of the Treno entrance. I will meet you there."

Dagger looked back at him seriously and nodded. "We'll see you later." With that, they all turned and left the room.

After getting back to the Inn, Baku began to recite what they told him. "So, this guy's gonna give us the Supersoft?"

Marcus nodded. "Yeah."

"Cause he knows the Princess?"

"Yeah."

"Hmph." Baku patted his belly and said, "Well, then you go with 'em and get it. He ain't gonna give it to ya unless the Princess is with ya."

Marcus turned to Dagger. "That ok with you?"

Dagger nodded. "Of course." She was still surprised to see Doctor Tot and excited to talk with him a little. And she was relieved that they wouldn't have to steal the Supersoft.

Baku stretched his arms. "Well, I'm sure he's gonna need a little time to prepare. Everybody rest up and you can go later." With that, he talked to the Innkeeper about a room.

"Princess, would you like to rest?" Steiner asked.

Although Dagger wanted to get going as soon as they could, she had to admit that she was exhausted. Even a little rest would be a nice thing to enjoy. She nodded.

About an hour later, Dagger got up, a bit reluctantly, and they all found their way to the tower. Dagger was able to fight off her fatigue as she remembered that she'd get to talk to Tot. She wondered how the others could still be so awake and alert. They must have been used to it.

After walking up the tower's stairs, they walked through the door and saw Tot standing there waiting. Upon their entrance, Doctor Tot's face lit up and he said, "Welcome Princess! Thank you for coming."

Dagger smiled sincerely, feeling as if she had met up with a long lost friend. "Hello, Doctor Tot."

He nodded, a large smile on his face and approached them. He looked at Dagger for a moment, eyes sparkling with happiness. He folded his hands in front of him and said, "It has been a long time."

Dagger nodded. "It has. I'm very glad to see you again."

Tot nodded. "Likewise." He looked over to Steiner and said, "Hello Master Steiner. Are you escorting the Princess?"

Steiner saluted quickly, looking as if he was on the spot. "Yes sir! I apologize for my earlier actions."

Tot shook his head. "It's quite alright. I won't ask you why you were there." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, yellow item. "Here is the Supersoft."

Dagger nodded to Marcus, who walked forward and accepted it. He held it tightly in his hand, beaming and said, "Thanks."

Tot nodded, then said, "Princess, could I speak to you?"

"Of course," Dagger said, and followed him as he walked to the other side of the room. They stood across each other, Dagger watching him and waiting for him to speak.

After tapping his head a few times in thought as he avoided eye contact (something that Dagger fondly remembered being his thoughtful habit), he looked up at her and smiled again. "You have grown into a fine young lady."

Dagger smiled. "Thank you. You look quite well," she said sincerely.

Tot nodded, then looked at the floor. Dagger watched him, a little nervous as to his actions. He clasped his hands behind his back and began to tap his foot thoughtfully. After a moment, he ceased the foot tapping and looked up at her. "I am very surprised to see you here, Princess." He splayed his hands in question, using his words not accusingly, but with concern and interest. "What has happened?"

Dagger stood silently for a moment, then sighed. Although she didn't want to think about what had happened, she knew that Doctor Tot might have been able to come up with a better solution than her. So, using as much detail as she could, but taking the smallest amount of time she could, she explained everything that she had seen at the castle, everything that happened after the man showed up, and everything that happened after she ran away. Once her story was finished, Doctor Tot was looking at the floor in thought. Dagger waited patiently, trying to shake off the feelings the story always gave her.

After a moment he looked up at her and said, "So, the Queen's force's have already become very powerful." He shook his head. "I knew that there were disturbances in Alexandria, but I never knew they were so out of hand." He looked at Dagger fondly and sincerely, saying, "There may be danger in your return, but I will see to it that you get to Alexandria. Perhaps you will be able to speak with your mother and stop this war."

Although Dagger was slightly disappointed that he was not able to think of a different approach, she was glad that a friend that she trusted backed her original plan. It appeared to be their only current option.

After a moment, Tot nodded, mostly to himself, then said, "Yes. I would wager that you are in a hurry, so I will no longer take your time." He turned to face a ladder on a wall next to him, saying, "This is the fastest and safest way to get to Alexandria." He looked at Dagger and smiled. "When you are ready, we will go."

Dagger smiled. "Thank you." He brushed the comment with a wave of his hand. "Not at all, Princess." Dagger turned to tell Steiner that they were leaving. As she approached him, she saw that he had been keeping his eyes on her while occasionally glaring at Marcus, who stood with his back to the knight, examining the Supersoft. Once she reached him, she said, "Steiner, Doctor Tot knows how we can get to Alexandria."

Steiner's face lit up a bit and he said, "Wonderful. Shall we leave now?"

"I'm going with you."

Steiner shot a glare at Marcus. Instead of letting Steiner start a rant, Dagger asked, "Why?"

"I can get to the forest a lot faster from Alexandria," he said, pocketing the Supersoft.

"I will _not_-"

"That will be fine," Dagger interrupted. She looked at Steiner to make sure he wasn't going to try to argue. She could tell by the look on his face that he wanted to, but he remained silent.

Dagger turned and approached Doctor Tot. "We're ready."

- - - - - -

Apparently, the ladder led to an underground transportation area. According to Tot, it was an old method of travel and wasn't popular after the invention of airships. But he managed to keep it up and running, feeling that something so useful would come in handy someday. Although the idea of riding a carriage carried by a Gargant was a bit strange, it would be the fastest and most efficient way to get to Alexandria without worry of being seen by anyone on the way. The large insect walked upside down along the ceiling of a long corridor, carrying a small carriage that hung from it's back, leaving the passengers upright a few feet above ground.

As they were carried down the corridor, Dagger couldn't decide if her nervousness or fatigue was getting the best of her. She was exhausted, yet felt wide awake with the thoughts of returning after running away. But maybe something had happened during that time. Maybe her mother changed. Maybe she would listen.

Upon reaching the end of the trail, they disembarked the Gargant carriage and entered a very large room. It looked old, moss dotting the walls and air very stale.

"Is this really Alexandria?" Marcus asked, walking a little ways behind Dagger.

"It has to be!" Steiner said, eyeing the walls as they walked up a short flight of stairs. "Doctor Tot would not steer us wrong!"

"Ok, ok, geez…" Marcus sighed.

Dagger paused at the top of the stair to wait for the others. She didn't understand how she was ahead of them when she was so tired. It must have been her adrenaline pumping, combined with the feel of the place they were in and the thoughts of what would happen when she met up with her mother. As they reached the top, Dagger watched one of the walls as a drop of water dripped to the floor, and said, "I think… Doctor Tot once mentioned an old dungeon in Alexandria Castle." She looked at them. "That must be where we are."

The two eyed the walls momentarily before looking back at her. "Then we better get out of here," Marcus said.

And, just like an obnoxious case of irony, they all jumped as a large, metal gate propelled out of the floor in front of them, blocking their way.

"What the-" Steiner began, but never finished as an identical wall appeared behind them. The three stared around themselves, pulses racing. Brick walls surrounded the gates.

They were trapped.

"What is going on!?" Steiner yelled, his voice echoing off the walls. He poked a finger hard to Marcus's chest and said, "_You_ did this didn't you!?"

Marcus caught himself from stumbling backwards, massaging his chest with a hand. "I didn't do anything!" he spat angrily. "How the heck could I have done this!?"

Steiner paused his anger. "You didn't do this?"

"Ha ha! Do this, he did not!"

Everyone halted their conversation and looked to the top of the brick wall to their left. A painted face with a red and white hat looked down at them, smiling maliciously.

Thorn.

"We did this!" a voice chimed in to the right. As they looked they saw none other than Zorn. He watched them with a look similar to his companion's.

Dagger's stared at them in shock. What was going on? Why were they capturing them? Did her mother command them to do it? How did she know they were here? No mater, she knew she had to talk to her.

"Zorn, Thorn!" she shouted. "I've come back to speak to my mother!"

The two clowns laughed. "Yes, take you to the queen shall we!" Thorn cackled.

"Just as we were commanded," Zorn added.

_Commanded… to capture me?_ Dagger thought. But… why capture? Wasn't her mother worried about her? Didn't she want to rescue her, not capture her?

Maybe this was worse than she thought.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Well, I hope that satisfied everyone. There might seem to be more changes than everyone expected, but this isn't a novelization. There's still more originality to come. Thanks for reading, and please let me know how it was with a review!_


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